


Dangan Ronpa - Despair's New Sacrifice

by BlankSlateStadium



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Awkward flirting scenes I won't apologise for, Betrayal, Blood, F/F, F/M, Fan Dangan Ronpa, Hope's Peak, Implied Femslash, Implied Hetero, Implied Slash, Implied Yuri, Investigation, M/M, Multi, Murder, Mystery, Original Characters - Freeform, Possibly reader interactive, Reference to the canon series, Survival, class trial, executions, implied Yaoi, killers, original character death, trial
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-28
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-07-10 18:27:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 76,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6999577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlankSlateStadium/pseuds/BlankSlateStadium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the heart of Japan, is a school known for its research into the talent in teens, inviting students to the school to learn more about their talents with their critically acclaimed 'Super High School Level' Programme.</p><p>However, when Sora Nagata's class seem's to be caught up in a self-titled 'game', the life of himself and the classmates around him will be put in danger. Now, the lax student has to help find an escape route from the school with the minimal amount of sacrifices to the game.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hijack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This first chapter is more of just an introduction to the characters and setting, so if you have any criticism then I'd love to hear it. But, don't judge this fic on this first chapter entirely, I beg you. Because I know it's not my best work.

I’ll do it. I’ll win. I’ll make them despair…despair…despair…DesPAir….DESPAIR….

E-er….probably….

\--

“Idiot!” He yelled sharply, smacking me on the head. I groaned, rubbing the top of my head. I swear, one day I’m gonna get brain-damage because of this douchebag. “I told you to come prepared for the first day, where’s your stuff?!”

“I told you, I forgot it before I left the house…come on, go easy on me, will ya?” I pleaded, but he wasn’t having it. He rolled his eyes and scowled at me.

“I swear. How the hell did someone like you ever get into this school? It seriously pisses me off.” He complained. “Whilst I’m hardworking and organised, you’re lazier than a sloth. You’re practically an extreme version of the deadly sin.”

“Or maybe it’s just because you live with a stick up your ass…” I mumbled, to which he smacked me on the head again.

“Sora! Take this seriously!” He scolded me. “This school could change your life and you treat it like everything else in your life. A joke!”

“You’re overreacting, Mamoru…” I try to reason. “I can take this seriously. I managed to make it this far, didn’t it? It shows I’ve got the brains to be here. I mean, you just got in for your organisation skills.”

“Which you could use.” He shot back at me. “Honestly. I was pretty much destined to be a Super High School Level Student…how you got in, that’s beyond me.”

“Love you too, man.” I grumbled. Mamoru shook his head and headed towards the school. “Hey, you better not be holding this against me! You never recover from a bad mood!”

\--

That’s the last thing I can remember. After that, everything went black. I woke up here, in this classroom by myself. The windows are completely covered with steel shutters. I mean…I’ve tried opening them up, but they won’t budge. It seriously sucks.

Maybe I’m not stressed enough about this? I mean, I guess it’s kinda worrying, with Mamoru kind of vanishing into thin air and all…I wonder where he went?

I turned to the door and tried to slide it open. Luckily it wasn’t locked, unlike those dumb windows. As I entered the rather large hallway, it was dimly lit with these nice purple lights…maybe now isn’t the time to be admiring the décor. Then again, he probably wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to smack me and tell me to appreciate the small details.

“Geez…I really must be in the school then…” I mumbled, running my hand through my spiked hair. I really wish there was some hint as to what was going on. Despite my dumb and, borderline lazy title, I’m not one for using logic and stuff like that. It’s way too much work.

“Mamoru…?” I called out…kind of. It was more like a half-mumble, half-normal speech.

“Ah!” A voice squeaked from the end of the hallway. My eyes shifted over to find a girl, black hair up in a bun held with some red hair sticks and wearing a traditional shrine maiden outfit. Come on, at least make a challenge to guess who you are. “I found someone!” She called out behind the corner. So, she was with others…? That’s good. Means it’s not just two people stuck in this-

“Sora!” Oh shit. Mamoru charged around the corner, straight at me. Maybe if I had realised a second sooner I could have moved out of the way, but when I felt his shoes connect with my stomach and we both hit the ground. The shrine maiden girl covered her mouth with a small gasp as we tumbled over, Mamoru grabbing the collar of my t-shirt. “Where the hell have you been, you dumbass?!”

“Nrr…” I groaned with slight annoyance. “Can you not be so loud…I just woke up…” That was a mistake. I could practically feel the slap before it even happened.

“Oi! Wanna not act like an idiot right now? At least until we figure out what’s goin on?” A new voice came from behind the corner. It was a rather tall boy in a white jumpsuit and flames around the collar. His blazing red and orange hair…wow, tacky. Pretty hard to look at, moving on.

“He’s right…” The shrine maiden agreed meekly. “F….Fukao-san, was it…? We should really get back to the others…” So he has already exchanged introductions with these two? Plus, ‘others’? There better not be a whole crowd of people here. I hate crowds…

“Nn…” Mamoru grumbled, slowly getting off me. Thank god, I can breathe. “Fine. But we’re making it quick.” He hauled me off the floor. Did he always have to hold my hand like this? I’m not exactly gonna be running off anywhere, am I? “Then let’s go. We shouldn’t keep the others waiting. It’s rather rude.”

“You know what else is rude? Fly-kicking someone for no reason.” I complained.

“I was angry because you had disappeared.” His expression had soften a little, but even then he was glaring. “You’re an idiot, it makes me worry.”

“Aww…that’s so cute that you worry about me, Moru!” I grin teasingly, slinging my arm around him.

“Idiot Bisexual!” He growls pushing me away. “Try going for someone that could actually be into someone like you!”

“You say that, but you know you’re blushing on the inside.” I chuckle a little. He rolls his eyes and starts dragging me through the hallways with the shrine maiden and ugly jumpsuit following behind us with slight confusion. Understandable, I guess, but come on. Even from knowing Mamoru for like, a minute, you’d know he pretty much is obligated to deal with me. Naturally, I should take advantage of that.

\--

“We’re back. Sorry for the wait.” Mamoru bowed a little as he dragged me into the gymnasium. A glare was then thrown my way as he forced my head down into a bow along with him. “You should be apologising as well!”

“For something out of my control…? How is that fair…?” I question as the shrine maiden and ugly jumpsuit passed us. Now that I got a better look around the room, it looked like there were about…14 others in the room, if you didn’t count myself or Mamoru. “Aw, this means a long introduction sequence, doesn’t it…?”

“Well, if you’re gonna space out, you may as well go first!” He shoved he forward, all the eyes on me.

“Ugh…you’re the worst, you know that…?” I complained. “Fine, fine…my name is Sora Nagata. It’s nice to meet you all. Shrine maiden. Ugly jumpsuit.” I nodded to the two.

“Ugly?!” The guy growled. Hmm, short temper, should be fun in the long run. He was barely held back by the shrine maiden who was desperately trying to keep him back. Looks like we found our keeper of the peace around here.

“That’s it?” Mamoru tapped his shoe on the floor impatiently. “You aren’t going to tell them your title…?”

“But it’s so stupid, Mamoru!” I whined.

“It still got you here! You might as well tell them!” He instructed. I puffed my cheeks out in defeat. He’s so rude to me, how I’ve managed to be around him for so long is beyond me.

“Fine…I’m the Super High School Level Riddle Solver. Happy…? I solve riddles and stuff, so I’m good with logic and puzzles…” I explained, kinda half-assed. But, it should have been enough to keep the wrath at bay for now.

“Hmph.” Mamoru folded his arms and turned to the other fourteen and bowed again. “I am the Super High School Level Assistant, Mamoru Fukao. I worked for the head of a failing business, and managed to use my organisation skills and ideas to turn it around completely. I hope we can all get along!” He straightened up. The others all looked at each other with slightly bemused looks.

“So, like…do you two know each or something…?” One of the girls, one with blindingly violet hair asked. She had a red blazer, white button up and a red plaid skirt on with black flats. A nice getup for a school uniform, I guess.

“We’re childhood…something…” Mamoru answered.

“You can’t even call us friends? That’s so mean, Mamoru!” I frowned. “I think I might cry.” I say sarcastically, holding a hand up to my eye, pretending to wipe away a tear.

“I barely tolerate you as it is. Don’t make it worse.” He glared. So cold.

“Well…whatever you are, you’re lucky to know someone else in here.” She said. “Alright then!” She stood up with a grin on her face. “My name is Akiko Sugiyama. I’m the Super High School Level Songwriter. It’s nice to meet all of you, I hope we’ll get along.”

Akiko…yeah, I remember her name on the message boards where they talk about everyone that gets accepted. Apparently she’s wrote songs for some of the biggest artists around the world, and they’ve always went straight to number 1. How she can do that, is totally beyond me. Then again, I’ve never tried to write a song…probably hard to do though…

“U-um…” The shrine maiden twiddled with her thumbs for a moment. “My name is Chieko Arishima…I’m the Super High School Level Shrine Maiden…It’s very nice to meet your acquaintances!”

Yep. The message boards did mention that she was a very polite girl, that Chieko. Looks like they were telling the truth. She wasn’t as cute as they had said she was though. That kind of sucked. Haha, judging people on their looks, could I be any shallower? The answers is yes, depending on who you ask. She’s apparently known to bring joy to festivals if she attends them. She’s clumsy but as soon as she gets into her duties as a shrine maiden, she’s a sight to see. Too bad we’re at a school.

“Tch…” Ugly jumpsuit clicked his tongue, finally tearing his glare from me. Oh, no man, your eyes were the only redeeming quality you had, and now all I can focus on is the jumpsuit and ugly hair. Seriously. Fire the bitch that did that to you. “I’m Hiroaki Yamahata. I’m the Super High School Level Daredevil.”

Ah…now it all comes together. Known to perform the most death-defying stunts, Hiroaki is world famous and tours from country to country. Or, so I hear. Frankly, before the message boards had been talking about him, I had never heard the name. Kind of a let-down in real life.

“Hmph! Alright then!” A girl with long flowing silver hair stood up. She was wearing an all-black dress with white sandals. No socks, thankfully, at least it wasn’t a full outfit atrocity. “Well then, it’s nice to finally meet everyone! My name is Ayame Ichimonji! I’m the Super High School Level Gardener!”

Ayame…she’s been able to make dying gardens turn around just by helping out with it for a few days. I heard she even made her own brand of fertiliser and weed killer. Must be pretty good, I guess, but gardening isn’t exactly something I saw as interesting.

“My name is Fumio Numajiri.” A slim boy in a robe, with waved pale blue hair stood up. He seemed to be holding a gavel, or whatever they’re called. Alright, on three- “I am known as the Super High School Level Judge. It’s good to meet everyone.”

Yep, knew it as soon as I saw him. Fumio Numajiri is known as ‘The All Seeing Judge’ and has been called to courts for the most difficult cases. He always manages to hand down the correct verdict without fail, and his skills as a judge are even greater than most veterans. Kinda impressive, if I have to comment on it truthfully.

“A judge, eh…?” A girl with pink hair tied back into a single ponytail, a sleeveless beige jacket, white tank-top, denim short-shorts with a set of fingerless gloves sticking out the pocket, and black boots grinned. “We won’t be getting along at all. Name’s Kotone Okuda. I’m the Super High School Level Bounty Hunter. Yes, that means exactly what you think it means.”

“You’ve hunted down some of the biggest criminals in the world, and haven’t sustained a single injury. But since you’re pretty much the government’s hitman, you get special protection for it.” Fumio glared at the girl. “You’re right…we probably won’t be getting along at all, Okuda-san.”

Ugh…who even bothers with honorifics anymore…? They’re so pointless. Just call her Kotone, geez…he’s probably gonna be just as, if not more, annoying than Mamoru…

“Uh…moving on…” A disinterested boy with stark white hair spoke up. He was in a black suit, tie and all. He looked like a fancy waiter or something. “I suppose I’ll go next…I’m Shin Tamuro. I’m the Super High School Level Spy.”

“Spy…?” Akiko repeated with slight surprise. “If you’re a spy, should you really be revealing that to us…? Couldn’t it, like…be dangerous for you…?”

“Not at all.” Shin shook his head. “I’m a government spy, trained from birth. I can be supplied with disguise after disguise so people will never recognise me…if I’m just my natural self, then I’m off duty.” He explained. “Of course, anything I’ve worked on is highly classified….”

“That should be a given.” Mamoru folded his arms. “Wouldn’t want government issues being leaked, after all…”

“Yes, it would probably end up causing quite a stir. Wouldn’t it…?” Well, these two are just like two peas in a pod. I think I found a new ship.

“K-kyoukai…Anaki…” A rather slim looking boy, with seriously pale skin mumbled. “A-ah, no…that’s wrong, isn’t it…? R-Ryokai Araki…y-yeah, that’s right.” He smiled sheepishly. “I’m…the Super High School Level Exorcist…I hope you don’t think that’s too weird…” He played with the sleeve of his button-up shirt. His black tie had the school symbol on it in white, he was also wearing jeans and white sneakers. A grey beanie was also sitting on his head…for an exorcist, he doesn’t really have much presence…

But, I had heard about him, though I think it’s a little shady. I don’t really believe in demons and the like, but then again…it begs the question of how someone like him would have got into the school, if not for being an exorcist. Urgh, never mind. Too much thinking…

“Then I’ll go next!” A messy blue haired boy sprung up. Oh great, just what every group needs, an energy ball. Energy ball here, I suppose isn’t the worst looking guy in the room. Looking at Hiro…whatever it was…Energy ball had decided to wear a black trench coat, which barely fit him along with a grey t-shirt and beige cargo shorts that were tucked into black combat boots. “The name is Takashi Hayashi! I’m the Super High School Level Archaeologist!”

“Oh! I’ve heard of you!” Ayame smiles. “You discovered huge fossils, and even huge tombs during your diggings, right? It made you world famous!”

“Y-yeah, that’s me.” He blushed a little. “It’s nice to know people have heard of me, at the very least…” Well, now I feel bad for being uninformed about him. Thanks for that.

“Alright…I suppose I’ll go next…” A short girl with amber hair cut at a mid-length, a black blazer, dark red skirt, white button up shirt, and black flats with white socks on spoke up. I guess she didn’t really need an introduction though. “My name is Yumiko Hashimoto. I’m the Super High School Level Reporter. It’s nice to meet all of you.”

“W-wow…I can’t believe we get to go to the same school as you, Hashimoto-Chan!” Hiro…aki…? Yeah, that was it. Hiroaki’s eyes lit up. “You’re pretty much a huge star on TV!”

“You’re overreacting.” Akiko told him. “Though, I will say, the places you’ve went just to report a story…it deserves praise.”

“Your praise is appreciated, I assure you.” Yumiko gave a half-smile. I couldn’t help but notice how she seemed a lot more stoic in real life. On TV she always seemed to be bursting with energy…I guess TV never really does showcase everything about a person.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s like, totally cool and all, but reporting news isn’t really a talent, is it? She just risked her life when she went to those locations to get herself noticed…” A brunette girl with her hair tied up with a neon blue scrunchie mumbled.

She brushed the dust off of her black tights, she was wearing simple black pumps and a red dress. Not quite in a Lolita style, but close. “Meanwhile, I actually used talent and skill to get into this school….oh, I’m Etsuko Hanabusa, the Super High School Level Choreographer.”

And that explains where the ego came from. She’s choreographed hugely successful music artists and even huge Broadway and west-end musicals. She was definitely a force to be reckoned with in the world of dance…probably…

“Y…you're Hanabusa-san…?” Ryokai asked. “Y-you don’t really look like a choreographer, if you don’t mind me saying…”

“Oh, of course not. I don’t exactly go around in my dancing outfit. You also don’t look like an exorcist, yet everyone kind of just seemed to buy it.” She rolled her eyes. I like her style. Shady.

“Okay. Anyway.” Another girl with flaring red hair crossed her legs. She was wearing a white blouse with a lily broach clipped on it, she also wore a navy skirt, along with a black hoodie, White knee-length socks and black sneakers. “Let’s keep this up, because this is taking a while. I’m Haruhi Matsushina, the Super High Level Occultist.”

Occultist…yeah, I remember her being mentioned somewhere. I’m pretty sure she wrote a book about the occult, and her seriousness about it, along with the extensive knowledge and ‘experiences’ with the supernatural had got her a place at the school. How she was as a person was never really mentioned. I guess she must be some kind of shut in.

“So, how many people does l- guh?!” Mamoru was cut off when he turned to find himself being examined carefully by an orange haired girl with black framed glasses, wearing a white blouse, black zip-up hoodie, black and red stripped tie with a blue badge on it, along with black trousers and black boots. “Can…I help you….?”

“Hmm….” The girl hummed, rubbing her chin. “No…nowhere near good enough….and there’s not a chance your friend is either.” She had an accent…ah, she must be the foreign student. There’s always at least one in every year group. “This sucks, when I travelled here, I was hoping to find some really muscular guy to be my model, look like that dream is out of the window.”

The girl, clearly saddened by this, adjusted her glasses and sighed. “Fine, fine…my name is Robyn Hutchison…I’m the Super High School Level Nudes Artist….I travelled here all the way from Scotland, so this totally sucks…” What. Did I actually hear that…?

“Wait…so, you draw, like…nude pictures…? Only nude pictures?” Shin raised an eyebrow.

“Yes. Pretty much. My anatomy is on point, so it really got recognition…from the school.” She explained.

“Oh! So, like…you draw dakimakuras and stuff?” Chieko guessed.

“No.” Robyn shook her head. “I have guys get naked, and I draw them. I find it hard to get inspired by anything else. Though, the guys here aren’t anywhere near muscly enough for me. I really wanted to try drawing some Asian guys…” Was she seriously that disappointed by this…?

“Yes, I suppose it is unfortunate you can’t practice your talent.” The last boy spoke up. He was…uh…

“Sora?” Mamoru nudged me. Shit. Spaced out. The guy…he had jet black hair spiked up like mine, bright blue eyes. He wore a shirt, which was clearly band merch with the band’s name and logo printed on the black background. He had a black zip-up hoodie, like Robyn’s, along with denim skinny jeans, and black and blue trainers.

“I apologise that we weren’t able to satisfy you to a high enough standard…hmm…would you prefer to be called ‘Robyn’ or ‘Hutchison-san’?” He asked.

“Robyn is fine.” She replied.

“Alright then…ah, it looks like I’m the last person left to introduce myself, aren’t I? Sorry for the wait. My name is Orochi Kamisaka. I’m the Super High School Level Decipherer. It really is a pleasure to meet all of you.”

“O-Orochi…” I stuttered with my words. Shit. “Like…you know…? The Orochi from that story…?”

“Yes, the same one.” He chuckled a little. “I get asked that a lot. It’s the same spelling as the eight headed serpent from the story. And, you’re…Nagata-kun, right…?”

“You don’t really have to worry about all those honorifics and stuff like that with me…” I scratched the back of my head. “You can just call me Sora, since I’m just gonna call everyone by their first names….” Mamoru raised an eyebrow at me. How about you fight me, you nosy bitch?

“Tch!” Mamoru clicked his tongue. “It’s because you have no manners. The honorifics are for politeness, you idiot.” Orochi simply chuckled at that.

“Sora…well, I do like the short names. They’re cuter than incredibly long names, I suppose.” Orochi smiled. How dare this guy be nice to me? I have done nothing to deserve this treatment.

“Okay, whilst the rest of us gag from this budding romance forming in front of us, how about we actually talk about more important topics…?” Etsuko spoke up. Wow, okay. “Like, what the hell is going on in this place…? Are we really in the school…?”

“I think we are.” Fumio answered. “The last thing I remember is that I was entering the school…then I can only remember a blur…”

“Oh, so that isn’t just me?” Yumiko asked. “Good, I thought I was the only one.”

“It must have happened to all of us…” I chipped in. “Since the last thing I remember is Mamoru storming away from me in one of his bad moods.”

“Idiot!” Mamoru snapped. “That’s because you were being your usual dumbass self!”

“You know, sometimes I don’t feel so appreciated in this relationship…” I joked with a frown. That set off a few giggles in the room.

“Asshole!” He smacked me on the back of the head. “Nobody would want to go out with a lazy dumbass like you!”

“So violent…how did you get hired as an assistant? How desperate were they…?”

“I got hired because I actually have skills that can be utilized in a workplace, maybe you should try gaining some skills as well.” He growled back at me. “Nrgh…that’s not the point! See, you do this every time things get serious! You make a joke out of it!”

“Relax, geez…” I waved my hand to dismiss him. “I’m pretty sure that this is all something that was set up by the staff at the school…”

“A set up? An interesting proposition…” Orochi commented. “Of course…it’s a little strange. The classroom I woke up in had its windows sealed shut…in fact so do the windows in here…” He glanced at the shutters around the perimeter of the upper wall.

“Could it be a prank…?” Chieko guessed. “I mean…maybe this is something they do to all the first years…?”

“As if.” Etsuko scoffed. “If this was a joke, they wouldn’t have gone this far. I wanna know what’s going on, and I wanna know now!”

“I know!” Haruhi grinded her teeth together. “I wanna get out of here, the shutters are making me feel claustrophobic!”

“Upupupu…” ….eh…? “If you want to leave…I can help with that, no problem!” My eyes shifted to a podium on the gymnasium’s stage. How had nobody noticed that yet…? “As long…as you’re willing to play the game…” I gulped…this was a first. I was on edge? What the hell is going on…? When everyone had turned to look at the podium, a black and white blur launched out from behind.

It somersaulted onto the podium, everyone simultaneously stepped back, except for Mamoru who just seemed to be confused by the whole thing. It was…a bear…? A black and white bear with a red eye and an outtie bellybutton. How many people can say they’ve seen something like that…?

“What…the hell…?” Yumiko spoke slowly, still trying to process the ‘animal’ that decided to appear in front of us. “Is it…a bear…?”

“I mean…i-it has to be a bear…” Ryokai mumbled. “But…why a bear…?”

“Hmm? Why a bear…? Well, why not?!” It exclaimed.

“It spoke…” Fumio’s eyes widened. “Intriguing…you must be some kind of mechanical bear, or something like that.”

“You got it, robes!” The bear nodded. “Name’s Monokuma! I’m this school’s headmaster!”

“H…headmaster…” Takashi repeated. “Uh….heheheh….sorry, but how is a bear the headmaster to a school, exactly…?” He rubbed the back of his head.

“Meh. Details don’t really matter right now, do they?” Monokuma tilted his head. “The point is, by now, you’ve all realised what it probably means if everything is sealed off and you’re inside the school…and if you haven’t- it means, each and every one of you…is trapped within the building!”

“T-t-trapped?!” Chieko yelped. You know, all this repeating is getting a little annoying. Let the bear speak.

“Yep! You got it, kiddo! Of course, there is actually a way to get out…but, the thing about is…it’s a little bit of a risk.” The room was silent. “So, now is a perfect time to announce the beginning of ‘The School Life of Mutual Killings’!”

“What…” Hiroaki stumbled back. “The fuck did you just say…?”

“M-mutual killings…? T-that’s, like…a metaphor or something…r-right…?” Ryokai asked nervously, the colour had completely drained from his skin. Not that there was much colour to begin with.

“Nope! It means exactly what you think it means!” Monokuma said in response. “You guys have all been chosen for this exciting instalment of the game! I hope you’re all prepared! Bludgeoning, stabbing, bashing, crushing, poisoning, cursing, drowning, electrocution, melting, anything goes in this game! That’s what makes it interesting!”

“He’s serious…” Mamoru mumbled to me. “This…this is really happening, Sora. We’re really going to be forced into this game…”

“Mamoru…” I turned to him. He had that look in his eyes…it was fear…”What the hell, man…? You don’t get scared…” I said.

“Upupupupu….!” The bear laughed, regaining my attention. “I wonder…how long can all of you last…? It’s so exciting to think about. I can’t wait for it to begin!”


	2. Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sora Nagata, now involved in this killing game now has to adapt to a new lifestyle within the walls of the school. The question is how the others will think of the situation in comparison to him.

“Rule 1: Students may reside only within the school grounds. Trying to leave campus is an unacceptable use of time.   
“Rule 2: ‘Night-time’ is from 10pm to 7am. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution.   
“Rule 3: Sleeping anywhere other than the dormitory will be seen as sleeping in class and punished accordingly.   
“Rule 4: With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore the school at your discretion.   
“Rule 5: Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of surveillance cameras.   
“Rule 6: Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes ‘blackened’ will graduate, unless they are discovered.   
“Rule 7: Once a murder takes place, a class trial will begin shortly thereafter. Participation is mandatory for all surviving students.   
“Rule 8: If the guilty party is exposed during the class trial, they along will be executed.   
“Rule 9: If the guilty part is not exposed, they alone will graduate, and all remaining students will be executed.   
“Rule 10: Principle Monokuma may add rules whenever needed.” I listened as Mamoru listed off the rules that had been given to us. After that weird bear-machine whatever disappeared, he gave us all these electronic things. ElectroIDs I think he called them…? Whatever they were called, they gave us the basic explanation of the rules for this ‘Mutual Killings’ game.

We had all headed through the building to look for somewhere we could rest, to find that there was a hall of dorms for us all, each labelled with one us. There’s even a cafeteria we all agreed to meet at in the morning, though Mamoru barged into my room, obviously uninvited.

“Hmph…looks like this is all legit…” Mamoru mumbled, shoving the ElectroID into his vest pocket. “I hope you aren’t going to be getting any ideas. I wouldn’t put it past you, you know.”

“You have so much faith in me.” I deadpanned. Did he seriously think I was gonna kill someone? If anything, I’d be the victim to him. “But, for real, what do you make of all of this. The mutual killings. That Monokuma guy.”

“Bullshit.” He said, folding his arms.

“Yep. Should have seen that answer from a mile away…would you sit down? You’re stressing me out…” I gestured to the seat at a tiny table…my room wasn’t exactly glamourous. A table and chair, a bathroom, a bed, a set of drawers (Fully equipped with clothes, like, why?), and a nightstand.

“Whatever…” He rolled his eyes as he took a seat. “This is serious though. We’re trapped in a building with a group of strangers, and then we’re told to go and kill each other…it’s…worrying. We can’t trust them, Sora.”

“Maybe you can’t, but I think there are one or two that are okay…but I wouldn’t put a lot of faith in that Hiroaki. A bad egg, I’ll tell ya. Nobody can wear a jumpsuit that ugly and be a good person on the inside.”

“One of the people that you trust wouldn’t happen to be that Kamisaka-kun, would it…?” Mamoru raised an eyebrow. Uh…which one was Kamisaka…? I looked over at Mamoru with lost eyes. He sighed, well, it was more of a stressed growl. “I mean Orochi…”

“O…Orochi…?” I turned away. Dickhead. “Why are you asking about Orochi…?”

“You were acting differently when you saw him, don’t act like I wouldn’t have noticed. We’ve known each other since we were kids. You weren’t your usual silent and laid-back self. You even stuttered. You. You stuttered.” Okay, I get, you don’t have to keep repeating yourself.

“I just….” A thought for a moment. “Didn’t expect someone to come to a school wearing band merch, that’s all…” Oh god, that was weak. Mamoru let out a low ‘hmm’ before standing up.

“Whatever you say. I’m going to go to my room…lock your door, okay? It would be bad if you didn’t even survive the first night.” He exited my room on that note. I paused for a second before getting up and locking the door. I stood there, staring blankly at the wooden door before resting my forehead on it.

“Geez…this is too much for someone like me.” I said to nobody in particular. “It would be bad if someone heard me talking to myself though…wouldn’t it…?”

“Don’t worry about that!” I twisted around to find Monokuma sitting in front of me, poking at the floor. What a weird machine. “The walls to these rooms are totally, 100% soundproof. So, you can give into any manly urges you may feel and be as loud as you want to be about it.” Ew, what was with that statement…? Didn’t he have surveillance cameras watching us all? Was this thing into that sort of stuff…?

“You’re real gross, you know that…?” I said as I walked to my bed, almost kicking the stuffed bear out of the way. Then again, the rules said there couldn’t be any violence against this thing. What a pain. “What do you want anyway…?” I asked as I laid down on my bed. “I really hope you haven’t just decided to drop by for the heck of it.”

“Just thought I’d make sure our little riddle solver was settling in nicely!” He exclaimed, putting a paw in the air. Okay, this was already the most suspicious thing that had happened today. “Just because I think you’re interesting, Sora Nagata.”

“Interesting…?” I repeated. Oh god, the repetition the others were doing earlier had already started to rub off on me.

“For the game, obviously. A riddle solver in a murder mystery, it would almost be a walk in the park for someone like you. But, what makes you even more interesting is how relaxed you seem about anything. I don’t really get it.” This bear was one hell of a talker, wasn’t he?

“I don’t like getting stressed, so I’ve taught myself to not get worked up over stuff. That’s all.” I replied. “Now, could you please leave? I’d like to at least sleep until noon tomorrow.”

“If you can sleep through my morning announcement, then sure, have fun!” Monokuma hopped up. “I’ll be on my merry way then! Have fun, Nagata-kun!” Huh? I blinked…then he was gone…where the hell did he go? Was it like a disappearing act that he had mastered? Cool.

I heard what sounded like a school bell as the monitor in my room flashed on. It was Monokuma in some dimly lit room, sitting in a leather seat, whilst holding a class of what I presumed to be wine. Or something similar.

“Alright, bastards, that strikes 10pm. Time for the first night-time to begin. So, the cafeteria is now off limits. See you all in the morning!” The monitor shut off. It was already that late…? Then again, the windows were closed off so there wasn’t any real way to know for sure. Whatever, I could use the sleep. Today’s been so exhausting, having to meet so many people can really take the energy out of a guy…

\--

Uuur…what the hell…? The freaking bell chime again? “Rise and shine! Today is the first day of your new lives here! Best to get a head start!” Damn bear. I sighed, rolling out of bed. If I didn’t show up today, Mamoru would probably break my door down, not something I would want to deal with.

Bathroom. I’m sure there’s a shower in there…I’ll grab a shower and meet with the others after that.

\--

“Where the hell is that lazy bastard…?” I heard Mamoru growl from the inside of the cafeteria as I stood outside the partially opened door. “I swear, he’ll get it if he’s last here…”

“Do you have that guy on a leash or something? Seriously, he’s the same age as you, I’m sure he can look after himself.” That sounded like that choreographer girl…Etsuko…? Yeah. God. There are too many names to remember right now.

“He’s nowhere near responsible enough for something like that!” Mamoru folded his arms. “He doesn’t take anything seriously. He’s probably treating all of this like a joke as well.” Harsh. Talking about me behind me back, what a snake.

“Uh…Nagata-kun…?” I turned to find Kotone staring weirdly at me. “What the hell are you doing just standing there…?”

“I wanna see how long it’ll take for Mamoru to blow. He’s lasted a minute or so since I’ve arrived.” I grinned. Kotone let out a small giggle to herself. Hmph, didn’t expect a bounty hunter to be the type to giggle at things.

“Maybe it isn’t the best idea. I can already tell how short-tempered Fukao-kun is. Everyone can. It might be in your best interest to come in with me, just to save you the pain.”

“Eh…?” I puffed my cheeks out. “You’re no fun, you know that…?”

“Oh hush. Come on.” She pushed me, rather forcefully into the cafeteria. Looking around, it seemed the only two that hadn’t arrived were Robyn and H…Horo…? The daredevil guy. He wasn’t there either. Though, despite not being the last to arrive, it didn’t stop the daggers being shot from Mamoru.

“What took you so long?” He asked almost instantly.

“Hey, give me a break. I had to wash my hair, okay? Would you rather I stank the whole room up…?” I scratched the back of my head.

“You say that as if you don’t still…” Um. Bitch?

“Th-that’s a little harsh…d-don’t you think…?” Kyokai…no, Ryokai tried to intervene, only to receive the same death-glare from Mamoru. “O-or you know…m-maybe I’m wrong…heheh….” Talk about changing in an instant.

“I wonder what’s taking those last two so long though,” Haruhi folded her arms in wonder. “I mean, I understand Yamahata-kun, he seems like the kind of guy that takes like thirty years just to get out of bed. I wonder what that Robyn girl’s excuse is…”

“She’s probably been turned off by our lack of muscled men…” Orochi joked.

“I’m not that shallow. I just take time in the morning…” Robyn argued as she walked into the cafeteria with…H…Hiro…? Hiroaki! Geez, I need to write that down. Yeah, he was with her. “It looks like we were the last ones to arrive though. Sorry about that.”

“It doesn’t matter if you were last or not. What matters is that everyone is here now.” Fumio crossed his legs. “Now, down to the business for the day.”

“Meaning…?” Kotone raised an eyebrow.

“Obviously…you want to investigate our current situation before we all make a proper judgement on everything.” Shin guessed. Fumio let a small smirk creep onto his face.

“Precisely. We can’t really say anything about what’s going on without a proper investigation of our location…” He nodded. “I suggest we split up and try to cover as much ground as we can. Once you think you’ve done enough investigating, head back here and we can discuss what we’ve found.”

“Hmm…” Orochi hummed for a moment. “Considering our situation, how about we investigate in pairs? Reason one, we can keep track of who was with who if anything happens, and reason two. It’s harder to kill someone you’re close to.”

“You seriously think somebody could kill…?” Akiko glared at him.

“I…just think there may be a chance of people giving into Monokuma’s tricks, is all. People deal with situations differently, after all…” His expression was filled with worry. “Mm…sorry, I shouldn’t act like that.”

“Nah, totally understandable.” Kotone shook her head. “Whatever, right? We should just start looking around as soon as possible. And we’re doing that in pairs, right…hmm…then I’ll take this little sprite.” She put her hand on Chieko’s head, who jumped in surprise.

“E-eh?! Me?!” She squeaked out. Kotone giggled at this and grinned at the short girl.

“Yeah, why not? Need someone innocent to counter my attitude. Plus, you’re Arishima, right? Then I’ll call you Ari-chan!” The bounty hunter joked. Chieko looked around, slightly unsure about this arrangement, before eventually letting out a small sigh.

“A-alright then…”

“Nice! Let’s get a head start then!” She took the shrine maiden by the arm and started dragging her out of the cafeteria. Right afterwards, Mamoru grabbed my arm and started doing the same.

“Hey, what the heck are you doing…?” I said, already having left the cafeteria.

“I’m not letting the others near you until I say that they’re trustworthy. For now, you’re only investigating with me, whether that pleases you or not.” He explained, dragging me into the connecting building where everyone had started yesterday in. My god, this guy seriously has some trust issues.

“But I wanted to investigate with someone else…” I mumbled, annoyed. “You’re stern. You have no fun…”

“This isn’t about fun, this is about finding a way out of this hellhole. So, stop fantasising about Orochi, because I won’t allow when he’s nowhere near trustworthy enough to be around.” I was about to argue back, but I knew that whatever I said was just going to be in vain. I think I managed a strained whisper of ‘it isn’t like that’, but I don’t think Mamoru heard me.

“What’s that about me not being trustworthy…?” Mamoru stopped and we both turned around to find Orochi and Haruhi walking towards us. An unexpected pair, but, I’m pretty sure Haruhi is one of those people that’ll grow to hate everyone around her. Same, girl. Same.

“That’s a little bit of a crappy attitude you have towards all of us. You know?” Haruhi said, folding her arms. “We’re high school students, not psychopathic killers.”

“Right now, I can’t see the difference.” Mamoru replied. “I’m just doing what I can do keep him out of harm’s way, and if that means stopping him from interacting with the rest of you, then it’s what I’ll do.”

“Mamoru…” I whined. “Just stop, man…if you keep acting like that then everyone is gonna think we’re their enemies.”

“Hmph…” Mamoru turned and dragged me into the nearest room. It was a small school shop, it looks like Kotone and Chieko had just skipped by here…where the hell did they go so quickly…? “I’d rather have the others view me as their enemy, than have you get hurt or worse.”

“You shouldn’t worry about stuff like that…it’ll give you wrinkles…” I half-joked. “But, get serious for a minute. It’ll help nobody if you keep distancing us from the rest of the group. It makes us the untrustworthy ones, not them…”

“Mmm…” Mamoru thought for a moment. Which he does a lot actually, like, can you not just make on the spot decisions…? Having to think things over must be so boring sometimes. “…fine then. But if you makes friends with a literal backstabber, it isn’t my fault.”

“We’ve been over this. You’re the only one here that would be okay with killing someone. Just as long as it was me…” I smirked, walking out of the school store…odd, I was expecting the slap by now. Maybe he’s finally embracing my energy-saving ways. About time. “Alright then, where should we look at first…?”

“Now that I think about it…there was a room straight across from the cafeteria, wasn’t there…? Why don’t we look over there first…?” He suggested. Ugh. He couldn’t have this bright idea earlier when we basically right next to the door? What a pain… “Don’t give me that look! Move it, lazy bastard!” He grabbed my arm again and dragged me back through the hallways over to the door across from the cafeteria.

It was completely wooden, with a sign on it that said ‘bathhouse’. Well that answers that. Mamoru reached out for the doorknob and entered the room, with me trailing behind him. It wasn’t exactly anything out the ordinary. There was a section for people to get changed before going into the bathhouse and a set of lockers for them to store their clothes in.

“I don’t really know what you expected…” I mumbled to Mamoru. “It’s not like anyone was gonna just decide to have a bath right now…”

“You sure about that…?” Mamoru pointed to the two lockers that had their locks on. So somebody really decided this was the time to go for a bath…? I mean, I like to lay back, but…no, actually, this is something I would have done. “God, what are they thinking? This is hardly the time for relaxing.”

“A typical statement from someone like you…” I grinned, gaining a side-glare from him. “We should go before they decide to come out of there. If it’s the girls then we’d probably get it from them, just from the shock of seeing us.”

“This isn’t a manga, dumbass.” He said, walking over to the door.

“Of course it isn’t. If this was a manga we’d be peeking into the bathhouse to see who was using it…” Mamoru grunted in response, stopping in his tracks. Wait…are you serious…? “You aren’t actually thinking about that now, are you…? Dangerous game, man. Could end up being Yumiko or Etsuko, and neither of those options end well for us. Hell, could even be Hi…Hir…”

“Hiroaki…?” God. I seriously need to write it down.

“Yeah, him. He probably wouldn’t take it well either…” I nodded.

“Whatever, let’s just go before you decide to do anything stupid…” Mamoru rolled his eyes as we exited the room. Not exactly a thrilling investigation, but it wasn’t exactly a room destined to be exciting.

“Ah! N-Nagata-chan! F-Fukao-chan!” Well, with a stutter like that, it could only have been Ryokai, tagging along with Takashi. That’s an interesting combination…

“Araki-san, Hayashi-san. Where have you two been investigating…?” Fukao asked.

“Oh, we’ve just finished looking around the dorm area for anything that we would find super suspicious, y’know?! Maybe like a hidden passage, or an uncovered window to the outside! Or even a vent!” Takashi grinned for about two seconds before moulding his face into a frown. “Though we did find a vent, there’s no way for us to get the cover off of it. It totally sucks…”

“W-we’re still l-looking for something useful though. W-we won’t g-give up! There h-has to be something w-we just haven’t found yet!” Ryokai determined.

“If you guys say so…” I shrugged. “Also, do you have to use my second name? It makes people sound so stiff.”

“Ignore him. He’s just never understood the use of honorifics, otherwise he would have definitely objected to you adding ‘-chan’ to the end of his name.” Mamoru folded his arms. Um, I know what they mean, asshole. I’m not an idiot.

“I don’t care about honorifics, I just think it’s annoying to have to call people by their second names….” I murmured back.

“U-ur…i-if you don’t want me to c-call you that, th-then I could try calling y-you…S-Sora…” Ryokai twiddled with his thumbs awkwardly. This guy…what a pain…

“Nah, its fine.” I scratched the back of my head. God, this place was making me softer on people…and I know Mamoru is gonna notice that. “Call me whatever you want. Don’t think I’m gonna be changing what I call you though. I never call someone by their second name.”

“R-really…?” His eyes lit up. “Th-thank you, Nagata-chan! L-like, seriously!” The guy smiled and blushed a little. Typical shota character, but he was playing the role well, I guess.

“Hey, Ryo-chan! We should really get going. There’s still plenty more places to investigate in the building!” Takashi exclaimed, linking arms with the barely shorter boy. “Oh, also, Sugiyama-san and Hanabusa-san apparently found something super cool when they were investigating around here! Though…they won’t tell us what that something is. It’s really annoying…” Hanabusa was…Etsuko…and Sugiyama was…Akiko…I think…

“They’ll tell us when we regroup, which can’t be long from now.” Mamoru commented. “I mean, there isn’t really a lot to investigate as far as I’ve seen from yesterday…”

“Even so! They should have just told us! Urgh…it’s so annoying!” Takashi complained.

“Getting angry at them won’t do you any good…” I mumbled, this one was really giving me a headache with all the yelling. “You’re better off just accepting it and moving on…”

Ryokai twiddled with his thumbs for a moment before turning to Takashi. “W-we should r-really get back to investigating…r-right? S-Shi-chan…?”

“Mmm…” He thought for a second before letting out a sigh of defeat. “Yeah, let’s go. We’ll find the best escape route ever! Be sure of it!” His eyes lit up once again as he dragged Ryokai away, down the hallway to the main building.

“…hey, Mamoru…?”

“I know.” He closed his eyes. “They are, aren’t they…? Like us when we were kids…”

“Yeah. Then all that crazy shit happened…” I looked away. It was…a problem…we haven’t really said much about it ever since it happened. Mamoru doesn’t like having to remember it, but it turned us into the comedy duo most people think we are.

“Reminiscing won’t help anyone, Sora.” He said. “It was something we can’t fix, so we should just move on, okay? Let’s just get back to the investigation…”

“Do we have to…?” I whined. “It totally goes against my ‘energy preservation programme’. Y’know?” Mamoru paused for a minute. Shit, maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.

“Would you prefer to just go back to the cafeteria…?” He asked, turning back to me. What. No ‘that’s usually called laziness’ or some rant about why I’m the most annoying creature he’s met…? 

“I mean…yeah, I would, b-“

“Then we’ll go back to the cafeteria until the others come back…” Mamoru decided. I could see the guilt in his eyes. I really shouldn’t have said anything about that to him. Now he’s in that mood again. “Let’s go, Nagata-kun…”

Nagata-kun…

When was the last time he ever called me that…? Probably way back when we met...


	3. Regroup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the investigations of the first floor, it was finally time for everyone to regroup and discuss what they had found.

I had sat in silence with Mamoru in cafeteria whilst we were waiting for everyone to regroup…I was still a bit annoyed Mamoru had called me ‘Nagata-kun’. That bothered me. I was the only one he was ever informal with, so for him to revert back to using my second name. It was troubling. I may be lazy, but don’t want to sit by and see Mamoru like that…

“Heeeey!!” Akiko waved her hand in front of my face to grab my attention. Oh yeah, everyone had already came back. How did I forget that…? “Have you been listening to a word anyone’s been saying?”

“Hmm?” I raised an eyebrow. “….oh…no, sorry…I zoned out.”

“Typical joke character…” Etsuko remarked. How obnoxious. No wonder the message boards said a lot of people hate her…then again, wasn’t that only towards people that didn’t have a true ‘talent’? She had a pretty weird definition of it, as I recall. “I guess we need to start over. We need everyone on the same page.”

“There’s always one guy that doesn’t take things serious….” Hiroaki added. As if I need to hear that from you, asshole. “Alright, where the hell did we even start…?”

“It was us.” Yumiko reminded him. “Clearly Nagata-san wasn’t the only way not paying attention…” Ooo~ shady.

“S-sorry, Hashimoto-chan…” Hiroaki looked down, clearly embarrassed. Oh yeah, and I’m the supposed ‘joke character’. Good one, Etsuko. “A-anyway…Hashimoto-Chan and I were investigating the gymnasium again. Though there wasn’t a whole lot to see.”

“We tried to see if there was a trap door or something on that stage. Monokuma had appeared out of nowhere, after all. Though…we couldn’t find anything of value, disappointingly enough. So, the question of Monokuma’s disappearing act kind of comes into play right now.” Yumiko folded her arms.

“Hmm…we did just leave straight after getting our ElectroIDs. He probably just waddled off after we had left…” Orochi suggested. “Though, proving that is a different matter…”

“I’m not really sure it’s that simple…” I mumbled. Why was I speaking up…? I hardly ever want to add to group conversations. “Monokuma visited me in my room last night, to check on me. Vanished and appeared from thin air…”

“Why the hell was Monokuma paying you a visit…?” Shin raised an eyebrow. “That’s rather suspicious, Nagata-san.”

“He said my talent made the game interesting. Being a riddle solver, y’know…?” I scratched the back of my head. “Though, I did wonder if he had any other reason for wanting to see me.”

“Maybe he’s got some kind of plan for you…” Akiko suggested ominously. “I mean, it’s not out of the question. Plus, a riddle solver is bad for anyone that wants to commit a murder…if anything, you’d be the biggest target out of anyone in this room.”

“Yeah, but I don’t have the energy to actually try solving murders…we may not have known each other that long, but you should be able to tell that much…” I mumbled. Orochi let out a small chuckle as he placed his hands on the table in front of him.

“You’re an odd one, Sora. But, I think people like that about you…” He smiled. Fuck. Fuck. Look away. He’s a distraction. He’s causing you stress, Sora.

“Well there’s a bathhouse.” Robyn spoke up from the back of the room. “Ichimonji-san and I decided to test it out too, it was really nice. The facilities live up to the standard of the school.” Ah, so that’s who was using the bathhouse when Mamoru and I were checking it out earlier… “I have to say that Ichimonji-san was the closest inspiration for me drawing a women. But not quite there.”

“Wh-why are you saying stuff like that?!” Ayame flushed. “P-people are gonna get the wrong idea!”

“Hmm…probably.” Robyn shrugged. “Though, you shouldn’t worry too much about it. Like I said, I’m not inspired to draw women nude. It’s not my thing…”

“Is drawing men nude like your sex drive or something…?” Kotone grinned. “If so, that’s kinda fucked up.”

“Oh, yeah, you know it. Just…the thought of those men getting nude for me, really gets me in the mood…” Robyn replied with a ruthless amount of sarcasm. “The point is, it seems like we won’t have any problems with the facilities in this place. That much should be clear.”

“No…” Takashi mumbled. “I think it just means we have running water…but anyone that had a shower this morning would have known that much…oh! Hanabusa-san! Sugiyama-san! Didn’t you find some huge discovery…?”

“Hmm…?” Akiko tapped her index finger on her chin for a moment in thought. “Oh yeah, we did…”

“There’s a hallway just between the dorms and the cafeteria. It’s only got one doorway down there, and a blocked staircase.” Etsuko started. “It turns out that it’s a storage room, filled with really useful things. Snacks, spare clothes, exercise equipment, toiletries….feminine products.”

“Just say tampons, who cares what the boys think?” Kotone rolled her eyes. “Did they have, what I like to refer to as, ‘masculine products’, if we really want to be subtle.”

“Oddly enough, they did….” Akiko confirmed. “In adjacent boxes as well, so Monokuma knew what he was doing, the dirty little bastard…”

“Though, that is somewhat satisfying to hear…” Fumio said. “It means we won’t have to worry about things like running out of clean outfits or running out of food for now.”

“Oh, we won’t have to worry about running out of food at all.” Takashi smiled. “When Ryo-chan and I were looking around the kitchen, Monokuma appeared and told us that he’ll restock the fridge every day. So, we should be fine as far as meals go.”

“A-as for clothes….” Ryokai continued. “Th-there’s a laundry r-room next to the bathrooms…s-so, we can u-use that if out cl-clothes get dirty….”

“Not to mention the drawers in our rooms are fully stocked with outfits. We shouldn’t really have any use for the spare clothes in the storage room, unless we just wanted to change our style.” Ayame added.

“Way to just take a huge shit on our discovery…” Etsuko folded her arms. She’s such a child…so annoying… “Well then, what about the rest of you. What did you manage to uncover…?”

“Oh! Ari-Chan and I covered a ton of ground when we were investigating!” Kotone raised her hand. “Let’s see….there was a nurse’s office along the hallway in the main building, but it’s totally blocked off.”

“It’s…a little worrying…” Chieko added quietly. “Wh-what if somebody got sick, and we weren’t able to treat them properly.”

“I have a feeling we won’t have to worry about that.” Shin reassured. “Monokuma wants to use us as his play things. He would never allow us get that weak unless he was the one that was responsible…”

“Yeah, you’re probably right…though, that fact doesn’t really make us feel any safer, does it?” Robyn rested her head on the table. “It just implies that Monokuma could try to make us ill.”

“Though, it’s probably gonna be the last thing he resorts to…” Haruhi leaned back in her seat. “Let’s see…ah! Kamisaka-kun, you found something kinda interesting, right…?”

“Well, Okuda-san, and Arishima-san found it before us, but, I suppose there is the media room…” Orochi nodded. “It’s just row upon row of computers. They work fine, but there doesn’t seem to be any internet connection available for them.”

“Monokuma must have turned it off so we couldn’t contact the outside, right?” Honaki guessed…no…yeah…? Hona…Hiro…? Hiroaki!

“Most likely.” Haruhi nodded. “Though, that’s a little pointless. There’s no way nobody would have noticed that there’s all those covers over the windows. The police must be coming to get us soon.” There was an audible gulp as Ryokai slowly raised his shaky hand. “Eh…? Araki-kun…? Is something wrong….?”

“S-s-sorry…I just th-thought it was a little w-weird that n-nobody had brought this up yet, b-but….has anyone actually seen any exits…?” Everyone simultaneously looked over at the exorcist (?). He had a point…ever since we had gotten here, there hadn’t been any exits from the building that we had seen so far.

“H-hold up…” Hiroaki had paled quite a bit, like somebody had drained the blood from his body. “A-are you sayin’ that there’s no way to actually leave this place…?”

“We can’t really say that just yet.” Akiko refuted. “There’s still the staircase nearby the storage room. That could lead to a floor where the exit is.”

“Isn’t that a little weird though…?” Yumiko said. “I mean, I noticed the lack of staircases in the main building, but first of all; why would the exit be on the second floor? And second; why would it be in this part of the building? Why not the main building? And thirdly; I’m pretty sure that this school has the exit on the first floor.”

“Plus, I’ve seen the blueprints for this school before. There’s no basement floors before anyone thinks of that. I mean…other than the dump the garbage chute leads to…” Shin added.

“Then what the hell is going on…?” Haruhi said, chewing on her nail. There was an odd silence for a few more seconds before Orochi stood up.

“I guess that’s everyone though. Good work everyone! We seemed to have found a lot of useful information.” He smiled around the room.

“You’re clearly using the word ‘useful’ loosely…” Etsuko said. She’s so snarky, I love it. “Whatever, I’m heading back to my room if anybody needs me.” She stood up, giving nobody a second look, and left.

“Well…let’s break off for the day, I suppose…” Fumio concluded. The others flooded out of the room, one by one, but I stayed behind. Mamoru hadn’t moved an inch. Not even when we were talking about there being no exits. God, he’s such a pain.

“Hey…Mamoru…” There was no response. His head was still down, staring at the floor. “Mamoru…Fukao-san…Mamo-Chan…!”

“What do you want…?” He finally spoke.

“Geez, will you just talk to me normally…? Every single time you do this, you get all down and depressed, and then after five minutes you’re back to normal. Why is this time any different for you…?”

“….Umeko….” Ah…. “That was her name, wasn’t it…? But then….”

“I told you to stop that…” I told half-sternly, which was all he was really gonna get from me. “Nothing that happened back then was you fault, okay? Stop blaming yourself for things that couldn’t be avoided…”

“It could have been though.” He shook his head and let out a tiny sigh. “There were so many things I could have done to prevent that, and now…”

“Dummy…do you even realise what you’re saying…?” I walked over and loomed over him. “You’re Mamoru Fukao, aren’t you…? You’re the Super High School Level Assistant. You get things right the first time…if something goes wrong, then it was unavoidable, isn’t that what you always said…?”

“Listen to you…the motivational speaker…”

“Only for you…” I mumbled in response. “Come on man, you know I’m right…” I wrapped my arms around him from behind. “So, just admit it. I’m totally useful for something…” He moved his hand to touch one of mine. Then in a flash, his other hand shot upwards and grabbed my shirt collar, flipping me over Mamoru and onto the table.

I felt the breath get knocked out of me in that moment. Mamoru stood up, that pissed off look I was so used to seeing plastered back onto his face. “D-dumbass, don’t touch people so casually, you hear me?! Next time you do it, I really will kick your ass, you useless, lazy bastard!” Even if he said all of that, I still grinned a little. He was back to being Mamoru, which was what I needed.

“Tch!” He clicked his tongue and turned away. “I’m going to my room, if you desperately need something, come tell me.” He moved for the door, but as he held it open, he stopped himself. “And…Sora…?” Good, back to first-name basis.

“Yeah…?” I sat up. Mamory tapped his fingernails on the door, contemplating whether to say something or not. “Something wrong?”

“N…no…it doesn’t matter.” He shook his head, proceeding out of the cafeteria. Mamoru was back. That’s all I needed.

“He likes you~” I raised an eyebrow as I saw Robyn rise from behind one of the tables.

“Eh…? What are you doing here? I thought you left with the others? Also, don’t roll your tongue like that. It’s weird.”

“Sorry, it’s a thing I do.” She slid over the table and hauled me onto the ground. “Plus, I left my lucky pendant in here.” She pulled out a small golden rose pendant out of her pocket. “I saw you two talking, didn’t want to interrupt.”

“So, you thought to hide and eavesdrop…? Kinda shady.” I said.

“Um…I wasn’t passing up the opportunity for a potential yaoi moment.” She grinned. Was she serious…?

“Looking in the wrong place. Mamoru isn’t like that…” I think…nah, there’s no way…right…? “Maybe you should stop trying to fetishizing same-sex couples…”

“I’m not.” She looked appalled. “Back in my hometown, you don’t see a whole lot of same-sex couples, so whenever I see them, I get really happy because it means people feel comfortable with who they are. It’s important, don’t you think?”

“I mean, obviously.” She’s a real social justice kind of character. But, not an extreme kind, which is good. “Still doesn’t mean you’re gonna find it in this school.”

“Don’t spoil my fun!” She exclaimed. “But…for real, it looks like you’ve got a good friendship with Fukao-san.”

“Something like that.” I shrugged.

“I feel really out of place here, y’know? Being the only non-Japanese person here…it’s awkward for me.” She folded her arms. “Even so…you guys don’t really treat me any differently. I don’t get it. I heard Japanese people were always kinda nervous about foreigners…”

“Who the hell have you been talking to…?” Seriously, where do you even hear that kind of rumour? I guess, there are probably some Japanese people wary of foreigners… “We don’t treat you differently because we’re all Super High School Level students in the end, even if some of us have kinda crappy titles.” I pointed at myself.

“I actually really like the idea of your talent. Being a riddle solver means you must be really smart, right?”

“Nah, you just have to know how to read between the lines in most times. Double meanings…logic…it doesn’t take a lot to figure it out.”

“Then how did you manage to get into the school if that’s your attitude towards it…?” Robyn seemed really interested…what a weirdo.

“Because I solved a locked room murder riddle in less than a minute. But, it wasn’t the hardest locked room in the world. Anyone could have solved it…” I rubbed the back of my head, sitting down. Robyn then proceeded to do the same thing.

“Well…what was the solution…?” She asked.

“You sure about that…? It’s a lengthy explanation…” Which was true, it did take a lot of explaining.

“It’s not like I have anything better to do…” She grinned. “C’mon, let me hear the genius that is Sora Nagata, the Super High School Level Riddle Solver.” Well…she did ask for it.

“Fine then. Girl C had been shot, Boy A had been poisoned. The two had killed each other. Boy A Exited his room and locked it, then went into Girl C’s room and shot her, put the key to his room into her pocket and then took her room’s key. Proceeded to leave and then locked the door behind him, creating the locked room for Girl C. He then left the mansion and climbed up and into his room through the window which he had opened beforehand as it couldn’t be opened from the outside and then closed it. After that, the poison took effect after Girl C had slipped it into his coffee earlier in the day. Creating the locked room that Boy B and Boy D had found later on.”

Robyn paused for a few seconds. “I’m….guessing that would have made a lot more sense with the backstory to it, right…?”

“Yeah, it’s a really lengthy explanation. Even more so than the answer.” Another point which was true. I can’t really remember the background information all that much, so it’s a good thing she didn’t ask for it.

“Even so, that’s really impressive that you managed to figure all that out in less than a minute. You really are deserving of your title.” She smiled.

“I’d say the same thing to you, but I’ve never seen your drawings.” Was that mean? That sounded kinda mean.

“Get naked for me sometime and I might feel inspired.” She joked (?). “Well, I’m gonna go and stay in my room. Out of all the things I lost when coming here, I’m happy I managed to keep my iPod. It’s got all my favourite songs on it.”

“You got to keep that…?” I raised an eyebrow.

“I found it in the drawers in my room. Maybe yours is in there. I only use this for music though, so it’s not gonna help us out.” She shrugged and stood up. “I’ll see you around, Nagata-san.” Giving one last smile, she walked off.

\--

There was the sound of the bell chiming. I had almost dozed off, again. Robyn wasn’t lying. I had found my Mp3 player in the drawer next to my bed, under some clothes. It had all my songs on it, which was good. Need that Beyoncé in my life.

“Alright bastards, that’s 10pm. It is not officially night-time! As of such, the cafeteria will be closing in a few short moments and will be off limits! Also! Make sure you report to the cafeteria tomorrow bright and early! I have a special present for all of you!” The monitor switched off, on that ominous note.

A present, huh…? Can’t be anything good…


	4. Bracelet

“This is unsettling…” Fumio mumbled, attempting to break the silence that had filled the room. “Where is Monokuma…? Shouldn’t he have come here by now?” We had been waiting a while, it was true. If I knew he was going to take this long, I would have had some breakfast by now.

“Frankly, he can take his time.” Etsuko adjusted her ponytail. “I’d rather spend as little time around that little demon as long as I can. I have a feeling you’d agree with that thought.”

“Nobody wants to be around that thing, it’s not just you.” Haruhi said. “It’s a little concerning though. I want to know what this is all about. Calling us here like this…”

“And that ‘present’ that he mentioned as well…” Mamoru continued on. “I wonder what he could have prepared for us…”

“Also, here’s a good question. Where the hell is Tamuro-san?!” Etsuko gritted her teeth. The Super High School Level Spy was yet to make an appearance. It was…suspicious to say the least. “Shouldn’t it be bad form for a spy to not be punctual?”

“Knowing him, he’s probably looking around before coming here. Maybe he wants to find out what Monokuma’s present is before the rest of us. See if it’s safe.” Fumio theorised.

“You have that much faith in the guy?” I asked him. “I mean, I don’t doubt the possibility-“

“Then why did you object…?” Mamoru snarled at me. You could have at least let me finish my sentence…well, as long as he’s back to normal. “Honestly. If you see anything wrong with the statement, don’t bother objecting.”

“You’re really mean, you know that…?” I mumbled back. I was ignored though. Like I said. He’s back to normal…whether that’s a completely good thing, I’m still undecided. “Anyway, if Fumio’s right, then Shin’ll be here any minute.”

“I suppose so, but what do we do until then? I doubt Monokuma will come unless all of us are here.” Ayame sighed. “Maybe we’d be better off going to look for Tamuro-san…?”

“It’ll be the faster option, that’s for sure.” Robyn agreed. “Alright, let’s just send out a few of us. It’s not like he could have gotten very far.”

“Okay. Nagata-san, Hayashi-san, Hanabusa-san, and I will all go and look for him. The rest of you stay here.” Haruhi stood up.

“I hardly think four people will be necessary.” Fumio objected. “How about myself, and Matsushina-san go…? We’d only need two people at a minimum.”

“I have no reason to complain. I don’t really want to move, so you guys go nuts, yeah…?” I gave a lazy thumbs up.

“Fine. I guess you and I can go look for him. Listen well, Numajiri-san, I don’t like being slowed down. You’d better not slack off in this search. Who knows what kind of mysterious forces could be at play here…?” Haruhi warned. Did she seriously think that there was some sort of supernatural being living in the school…? Monokuma’s the most unnatural ‘creature’ in the building. She needs to chill out.

“I understand. Don’t you worry about me.” Fumio assured her as he stood up. “Let us hurry…the sooner we return, the better.” He was worried about Shin. Don’t know why though. He’s the Super High School Level Spy, I’m sure he’s fine. Nobody like that would die off so easily…did I just jinx that…? Shit. Touch wood…

“What’s with that face?” Mamoru glared at me. “What the hell are you thinking about now…?” Hmm…opportunity for some fun…?

“Oh, y’know…just about all those nice things you always say when there’s nobody else around…”

“What?!” Boom. Finally made his face flush. Biggest accomplishment ever with this boy, I swear.

“I just don’t get why you act so mean when everyone else is around, Mamo-chan~” I grin teasingly. Some of the other letting out small laughs at this. Mamoru just responds with a death glare before bringing his fist down on my head.

“Dumbass! What useless lies!” He growled.

“He likes you~” Robyn grinned at us.

“D-don’t roll your tongue like that!” Mamoru barked at her. “A-and I do not! I have a concept known as ‘standards’. Something people should look for if they actually consider this lazy bastard as a potential boyfriend!”

“So rude…I’ve still been in more relationships than you, so I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Which was true. Mamoru had only ever been in one relationship as far as I could remember, and that girl definitely did not end it with him on mutual terms.

“Th-that’s not the issue, idiot bisexual!”

“Idiot bisexual…?” Orochi repeated with slight amusement. “You aren’t actually using it as an insult, are you…?”

“No, he just hates people saying his orientation. So, I do it to piss him off when he pisses me off.” Mamoru explained. Again. This was true. I really wish he would quit saying that though.

“I see…how interesting…” Orochi smiled at me. Surely not… “Ah!” He turned to Ayame who was sitting to his right. “I almost forgot. That bathhouse, is it as relaxing as you and Robyn said it was yesterday?”

“Hmm? Oh! Y-yes! The bathhouse is amazing. It felt good to have some time to let the stress of the situation leave my body…” Ayame blushed. Was that just at the memory? That’s pretty innocent, even for her standards that she had shown so far. “Of course, I’m not sure how I feel about a unisex bathhouse…”

“Yeah, I’m not bathing with boys. That’s not happening.” Etsuko folded her arms. “I downright refuse to do something like that…”

“Nobody was asking you to…” Hiroaki rolled his eyes. So rude to women. How could anyone like him? “Just have whoever uses it based on the day. Alternate. Since Robyn and Ichimonji-chan used it yesterday, it’s the guy’s turn today.”

“What?! That is so not fair! I was gonna use it today!” Kotone complained. “Urrghh!! I’m stressed enough as it is! I need that bathhouse today! You boys are giving me half an hour in there, got it?!”

“Yeah, fine, if it’ll stop your whining.” Hiroaki shrugged. Kotone glared at the daredevil for a moment. Same, girl. Same. The silence was starting to settle back in, but only for a few seconds until we heard the sound of a plate smashing in the kitchen. Only to be followed by a meek yelp.

“A-ah…oh no…” That was Ryokai’s voice, I think. Ryokai was the exorcist, right? “C-can somebody help me r-really quickly…? I m-may have kn-knocked over some p-plates…” Quick as a bullet, energy ball himself, Takashi rushed into the kitchen to help.

“Geez, Ryo-chan, how did you managed this?” He sounded kinda annoyed.

“I h-hit the stack of plates with my elbow a few of them f-fell off…” Ryokai explained. “I d-didn’t m-mean it…”

“Hey, don’t worry about a thing! Your best friend Takashi is here to help! We’ll clean this up quickly…I’ll get the smaller shards, you put the big pieces on the counter and I’ll get them in a minute, ‘kay?”

“A-alright…th-thank you Shi-chan…” The rest of us were still sat in the other room, but those two were loud. Which was surprising for Ryokai, considering how timid he seems to be. After a few more seconds of silence, I had noticed Akiko was mumbling something to herself. Though I couldn’t make out the words.

“Motives….” She said eventually. “What if that’s what Monokuma has prepared for us…? It would make sense, right?” Everyone looked at each other, slightly unnerved by the idea. “Honestly, I don’t know why we didn’t think about it sooner…”

“B-but if it really is motives…wh-what could he have waiting for us…?” Chieko shook. “N-now I’m really scared for when they come back with Tamuro-san!”

“Aw, come on, Ari-chan! It’ll be alright!” Kotone slung her arm around the shorter girl. “I’m sure that everything will work out in the end. Promise! Plus, it’s not like anyone here would actually be willing to kill someone to escape this place. We’ll be out of here as long as just wait.”

“That’s oddly positive to how you were just two seconds ago.” Mamoru observed.

“Oh, I’m still stressed as fuck, but I do my best to smile. It’s easier that way. It was how I was raised. Smiling is the best cure…” She didn’t actually seem very sure that her own statement was true. Guess she’s the tragic backstory of the group. “Though I wonder what kind of motives he could even prepare for us…what’s really killing over…?”

“It’s odd to hear a bounty hunter say something like that.” I commented.

“By the way, Okuda-san? I was wondering for a while, but, Numajiri-san said you were like the government’s hitman when we all first met. And Tamuro-san is the government’s top spy. Did you two ever meet prior to coming here?” Orochi asked. He seemed really interested in all of us…what’s with that?

“Hmm…I don’t think so. That’s a better question for Tamuro-san, himself, isn’t it? He’s always in disguise if he’s at work. I could have talked to him without knowing.” She shrugged. “Of course, that means the same thing for any of us. Anyone could have met Tamuro-san and not known about it.”

“So, wait, you actually worked in the government building…?” Hiroaki turned to her.

“Sometimes. Usually I would just go out and hunt criminals I found in underground bulletin boards. Government officials saw me take down a really infamous serial killer, and that’s how I came to work for them…part-time. They don’t interfere in my work though, so it’s all good.” She explained. “Geez…” Kotone leaned back into her chair, folding her arms behind her head. “I wish I could go back to my job. I really miss hunting down criminals. That thrill really gets you, y’know?”

“Y-yeah…I miss getting to tend to the shrine in the morning…it was always too peaceful, getting to listen to the birds sing.” Chieko reminisced for a moment before her expression turned to a rather low gaze. “I really want to get out of here…but I could never kill someone. I don’t have a mean spirit like that…”

“Well ‘course you don’t!” Kotone grinned. “Someone as cute as you could never hurt a bug, never mind a person!”

“C-c-cute?!” Chieko blushed. Wow. She was that easy, huh…?

“Exactly what I mean!” Kotone laughed a little as she patted the flustered shrine maiden on the back. Finally, after all that, the door opened. Fumio, Haruhi, and Shin all making their entrance. “God, finally! Where the hell did you go…?” Kotone asked the spy immediately.

“I was conducting an investigation by myself. I work my best when I have nobody to distract me.” Shin simply replied. “It was not…very helpful in the end.”

“What exactly were you looking for?” Mamoru walked over to him. Uh…was he trying to intimidate him. “I’ve had my suspicions about you as well, you know that?”

“Suspicions?” Shin raised an eyebrow. “Apologies if I’ve come off that way, Fukao-san. I’d love to hear what you mean though. How exactly am I ‘suspicious’?”

“This is a government run building. You’re a government agent. I highly doubt something like this could happen without your knowledge. Okuda-san has a reason for not knowing as she was recruited into the government but doesn’t always work with them. You, on the other hand, were raised by the government to be their spy. You know everything that happens in that building whether it’s your business or not.”

“So, you think I’m some kind of mole…?” Shin let out a scoff. “Interesting…however, I have no idea what’s going on. Just like everyone else here. I don’t really have a way to prove, but I have a feeling that gaining your trust would be the tough way out.”

“Oh, yeah, Mamoru’s really untrusting of people…” I nod.

“Shut up, dumbass! It’s called being cautious! We went over this yesterday!” Mamoru scolded. Yeah, and you also said you were gonna give the others a chance…and yet…

“Well, this arguing is very interesting and all!” Suddenly, without anyone noticing, Monokuma had appeared at the table in the corner that nobody was sitting at. Ryokai and Takashi came out of the kitchen when they heard the bear’s voice. “However…we have something much more important to talk about, don’t we? Your present!”

“What are these presents? I would rather know beforehand, just so we know what to expect…” Fumio said.

“You guys did kind of already guess what it was…what’s waiting is your first motives of the mutual killings!” Does he seriously expect for something like this to work on us…? We’re not that easy to manipulate…well, I’m not. And Mamoru certainly isn’t.

“I thought that would be it…” Akiko said, standing up. “Fine then. Let’s get this over with. What exactly do you have for us then?”

“What do I have for you…? Well, to find that out, how about we take this down to the gymnasium? It’ll be more exciting like that!” Monokuma punched a paw through the air, jumping behind the table and disappearing. Fumio let out a sigh, massaging his temples.

“That bear is giving me a headache. What an annoyance…” He grumbled. “Very well, let’s all go down to the gym. The sooner we get this over with, the better.” As we all started making our way to the gym, Takashi slid up to me.

“Soooo~…” He smiled. “I gotta ask you, Nagata-kun. What’s the whole deal with you and Fukao-kun?”

“Ah, if I had 100 yen for every time somebody asked me this question…” I said, half-grinning. “We’re friends…kind of. Mamoru likes to deny it, but he likes me deep down. He has to, we’ve known each other for years. Know everything there is to know about each other.”

“Wow, it’s really cool you have a relationship like that…!” Takashi’s eyes lit up for a moment. “I never really had friends. They all thought it was weird that I was so into fossils and stuff like that, so they never hung out with me.”

“You say that so cheerfully though…”

“Well, it gave me a lot of time to work on my archaeological investigations, which led to me getting here. Now I have Ryo-chan, you, and the others. Maybe getting trapped here wasn’t so bad!” This guy…is really weird…but, not in a bad way.

“So, you think we’re friends?” I asked. It was rare is someone actually called me their friend, especially nowadays.

“Well, of course we are! We’re all friends in here…though, some people are gonna be a little hesitant to admit it which is really annoying.” He pouted for a moment, then resumed to his plastered smile. “But, even people like Fukao-kun, Hanabusa-san, and Tamuro-kun, they’ll all open up to us eventually.”

“Hmm…” I looked at Takashi, slightly bemused by his personality and attitude towards this situation. How he managed to stay so bright and bubbly was beyond me.

\--

We had all gathered in front of the stage. Monokuma was already waiting for us when we walked in, standing smugly on the podium. “Alright naughty children! It’s motive time!” Monokuma announced producing sixteen envelopes. Each had one name on it. I could see mine at the front. ‘Nagata Sora’ I sighed inwardly. Sora is not my second name.

Monokuma threw the envelopes into the airspace above the group, everyone grabbing the envelope with their name. “So…what exactly are these…?” Shin asked, not bothering to open his.

“Your first motive is an item. That’s all. But it’ll have very significant meaning to you all. You could open it here, but I suggest you open it back in your rooms.” Monokuma said. The hell was he talking about…I mean…the envelope did have a bit of heft to it, but it wasn’t that bad. What could actually be in this…?

“Whatever. I’m going back.” Hiroaki put the envelope under his arm and made his way out of the gymnasium without another word. Monokuma, in response, let out a small chortle.

“Upupupu! I can’t wait for you all to open them up! I’ll be super happy to see all of your reactions. Then I just have to wait!” Monokuma gave a little air punch before jumping back behind the podium. Most likely disappearing in the process.

“Hmph…” Etsuko twisted the end of her ponytail around her fingers. “Should have expected something this half-assed by that bear. What is he going to do if we don’t open these…? Then there’s no motive.”

“Oh, people will open it. There’s no doubt about that.” Orochi folded his arms. “How we all react to the items inside will be the unknown part of this. Of course, Yamahata-san didn’t waste any time leaving, did he?”

“He’s probably off to open the envelope in private.” Kotone guessed. “Makes sense. Monokuma said it would be in our best interest to open these in private.” I glanced back at my envelope once again. Whatever. It couldn’t be that bad.

\--

I locked the door as I got to my room. Dropping the envelope accidently whilst doing so. Sighing, I pick it up and felt the contents inside, trying to see if I could figure it out what the hell Monokuma had given me.

“Urh. It would just be easier to open it.” I concluded ripping the top off and reaching inside…there’s something hard…lumpy…circular. But it was wet as well. Finally deciding to stop keeping myself in suspense I pulled the item out.

…......What…?

It was a bracelet. A charm bracelet, black with golden charms. But…it was covered in blood. Dripping. And on the charms, there were five letters to spell out a name.

“Umeko…” I mumbled. “What…the hell did that bear do…?”


	5. Division

I stared at the bracelet. I knew the implications of blood on it. And yet…I wasn’t stressed out, or scared…not even angry… I guess I just know how to control my emotions. I threw the bracelet back into the envelope and placed the envelope on the table. 

I went to lie down on my bed, until someone so rudely decided it was time to knock on my door and disturb my almost relaxation time. Sighing, I reluctantly opened the door to find Yumiko standing out there. “Sorry, nobody’s home.” I mumbled, attempting to close the door.

“I don’t think so!” She pushed, knocking me back in surprise. “Come on, you. We’re all meeting in the cafeteria. That includes you…or would you rather have me send Fukao-kun to come and get you?”

“Aw, you’d bring him here just for me…?” I grinned. “You know how to please me.” Yumiko just stared at me blankly. Nothing? Alright then. Tough crowd. “Fine. Fine. I’ll come with you. But I’m gonna complain ab-“

“Just move it.” She walked off. Wow. Couldn’t even let me finish, could you? “What’d going on anyway…?”

“You’ll find out in a second, won’t you? Just try having some patience.” Yumiko rolled her eyes.

\--

“He’s here. Happy?” Yumiko announced as we walked into the cafeteria. About over half of the group was there. Yumiko, Chieko, Fumio, Ayame, Robyn, Takashi, Ryokai, Hiroaki (Why?), and of course, Mamoru was going to be there.

“Yes, that’s everyone I needed.” Mamoru nodded, standing up. “I thank you, Hashimoto-san. I hope he didn’t give you too much trouble.” He gave a small bow. All we did was go from my room, to the cafeteria. What did he think I was going to do?

“He was a bit jokey with me, but it’s nothing I wouldn’t have been able to handle. How you could stand to be around him for all this time is beyond me. You must be a saint.” Um. I’m literally standing right here.

“Being escorted by Hashimoto-chan, and not showing any appreciation…who the hell do you think you are…?” Hiroaki growled.

“Speak for yourself, we have to look at getup and that hair. That’s traumatising.” I mumbled back.

“What the fuck was that?!” He slammed his fist on the table, Chieko and Ryokai yelped in surprise. That’s what happens when you sit at a table with someone like him. Must have been pretty distracted because before I had reacted, the idiot was looming over me. He was tall, but he wasn’t exactly intimidating.

“Hey now…don’t start anything…” Fumio warned.

“You wanna that by me again, asshole…?” He grabbed the collar of my t-shirt. Sorry, I’m not exactly into being man-handled.

“What? The part about your ugly fire-hair, or your loud and weird jumpsuit?” I grinned. Hiroaki gritted his teeth, his face flaring up. Wow, all you need is yellow and you really will look like fire. His free arm reeled back, fist clenched, I just threw my arms up to challenge him. “Go ahead. Do it in front of everyone. Including your precious ‘Ha.Shi.Mo.To.Chan.’” I put emphasis on each syllable, in my best impression of him. His eyes shifted to the side for a second.

Letting out a grunt, he released me and sat back down in his seat. Keeping his glare locked onto me. Oh well, I win. “Alright, so wh-“ I tried to speak until Mamoru started charging for me.

“DUMBASS!!” He yelled, a fire in his eyes as he fly-kicked me in the stomach, throwing me back a few feet on contact. I fell to the ground, the wind knocked out of me. “Can you NOT avoid being an ass for two minutes?!” He hauled me up by the back of my collar.

“I could say the same thing to you, you know.” I mumbled. “What’s with the abuse, I didn’t do anything wrong…”

“Other than all the provoking you just did…?” Mamoru retorted. Smartass.

“F-F-F-Fukao-kun…? M-maybe we should just m-move on…” Chieko spoke up. Thanks girl, you always have my back. Mamoru let out a small hum, clearly contemplating his options. He eventually decided to throw into the nearby chair, sending one last warning glare my way. Cute. He thinks that works on me.

“Yeah, calling us all out like this. What’s your deal, huh?” Hiroaki asked.

“My ‘deal’, as you put it, is that I find all of you to be the trustworthy members of the group. In other words, the ones that wouldn’t consider killing another.” Mamoru explained.

“Eh…?” Robyn raised an eyebrow. “I mean…I can understand wanting to be cautious of some people, but is separating us into two groups really the answer?”

“She’s got a point.” Fumio added. “Splitting us like this won’t solve anything.”

“Come now. Are you trying to say you aren’t wary around the six that aren’t here? Kamisaka-san, Okuda-san, Hanabusa-san, Sugiyama-san, Tamuro-san, and Matsushina-san. I don’t trust any of them.” Mamoru folded his arms. This was cold. Even for him.

“O-Okuda-Chan is a good person though!”

“As is Tamuro-kun. You’re acting out of line, Fukao-san.” Chieko and Fumio attempted to defend their friends respectively.

“One is a bounty hunter, and the other is a spy. I’m sure both are very much used to having blood on their hands. You really want to trust your lives in their hands?” Mamoru put his hands in his pockets.

“Then what about Sugiyama-san?” Yumiko asked. Akiko…she hadn’t done anything wrong to anyone.

“What, you’ve never heard the rumours…?” Hiroaki said. “Apparently Sugiyama-san has a bad temper. And…I mean that in the worst kind of way. She ended up putting a guy in hospital one time, allegedly. She’s taken a beating from the press over the years.”

“Wow, I never knew.” Yumiko’s eyes widened. “Despite my title, I don’t watch the news a whole lot, so if I haven’t reported about it, it’s very unlikely I’d know about it.”

“Then what about Etsuko…? What’s she done wrong?” I ask. Mamoru rolls his eyes and sighs.

“Have you talked to her? She clearly isn’t anybody’s friend. She probably views everyone as her enemy. Same for Matsushina-san. Though, her love towards occultist and ritualistic things also makes me wary of her.”

“Fine, but there’s no reason to be wary of Orochi.” I continued. “He clearly means well…”

“Hardly.” Mamoru shifted. “There’s something…off about him. I don’t like the aura he lets off…it’s very eerie…”

“I h-have to ag-gree with F-Fukao-kun on th-that…” Ryokai spoke up. “I d-d-don’t like the atmosphere that s-surrounds K-Kamisaka-kun…”

“Well, I think you’re just being paranoid.” I insisted. “Orochi’s a good person, I can tell. Hell, why are we even doing this? Didn’t we already talk about not separating us from others? About giving them a chance?”

“I did. And these people are the ones I find trustworthy. Is that a problem?” Oh. Is that a challenge?

“Actually, yes I do. Rumours and gut feelings aren’t good enough reasons to alienate the other six. Kotone is clearly a good person, as expressed already by Chieko, you have actual evidence about Akiko. Shin was clearly trusted by Fumio, who’s the Super High School Level Judge, if I must remind you. Haruhi and Etsuko may be a little distant, but I don’t think they’re bad people. And Orochi…he wouldn’t hurt anyone, you can just tell.”

“You’re just saying all that because of him aren’t you…?” …is he seriously gonna start saying stuff like that? What a pain. Mamoru should know me better than that. “Well, if you have a problem with all of this, you can just leave.”

“…fine then…” I shrugged, getting up and moving for the door.

“Wh- Sora!” Mamoru called out as I held the door open. I didn’t look back. Didn’t want to. “Sora…if you walk out that door…we’re practically enemies…”

Enemies…I let that word sit in my head for a minute. The tension in the room was attacking me like daggers…I didn’t need this. “Then I guess we’re enemies.” I mumbled, continuing on.

“Sora!” He called out one last time before the doors closed. I didn’t need to hear stuff like that. I don’t need Mamoru.

I don’t need Mamoru.

\--

“So, why did you gather us here, exactly…?” Kotone asked. “You aren’t exactly one for stuff like this as far as I can tell.” I had called the six that he decided to push away, and gathered them in my room.

“Oh, I just thought you guys would like to know about the whole situation that Mamoru decided to create.” I laid back on my bed. Just because I had gathered them here, didn’t mean I couldn’t relax like normal, did it? “He’s decided to take half of the group, and himself, and put it into a ‘trustworthy’ group. Whilst we’re left to be untrustworthy.”

“What?!” Etsuko stood up, outraged. Sit back down, sweetie, you’re stressing me out. “That bastard. Who the hell does he think he is?!”

“Then why are you here?” Haruhi raised an eyebrow. “I thought you and Fukao-san were friends?” So did I…but if he can’t just listen to me when it matters, then what’s the point?

“I think there’s good in you six. That’s why.” I looked over at the sextet that were huddled at the table. “You deserve the benefit of the doubt as well. He was basing everything on gut feelings are rumours.” …maybe I shouldn’t have said that. Akiko shifted a little at the word ‘rumours’. So, she’s aware about it then…

“What about Ari-Chan? Didn’t she speak up for me?” Kotone said, serious concern in her eyes.

“Yes, I would have thought that Numajiri-kun would try to defend me as well.” Shin added. How close had they all gotten in the span of, like, a day and a half?

“They did, but got shot down by Mamoru. Doesn’t surprise me, really. As soon as Mamoru thinks he has an edge on people, he doesn’t let up.”

“Sounds kinda annoying for you to have to deal with him all the time. Then again, we’ve all seen the way he treats you, so we can understand why you’d want to leave.” Akiko said.

“Nah, nah, it’s not that…” I waved my hand to dismiss her statement. “I just thought that after Mamoru and I talked, he would have actually listened and given everyone a proper chance at showing they can be trusted.”

“He’s probably just doing this to protect you, Sora.” Orochi suggested…protect, huh…? “We can all tell he’s actually worried about you, even if he doesn’t show it explicitly. Fukao-kun is a good person deep down.”

“And then deeper down he’s an even bigger asshole.” I mumbled, turning away from them. Of course, it wasn’t always like that…if only that never happened. We would still be the same as we were back then.

“So, what are we supposed to do about all this?” I turned back around at the sound of Etsuko’s question. “You aren’t expecting us to just sit here whilst Fukao-san clearly doesn’t want to be around us, right? We need to get him on our side.”

“Hanabusa-san is right.” Akiko nodded. “You know him the best, isn’t there any way we can convince him otherwise about us…?” Yeah, there is…but they wouldn’t like hearing it…Mamoru only thinks otherwise when he’s completely proven wrong. So the only way for him to be convinced otherwise in this situation is-

“One of us dies.” Orochi grimaced. “That’s what you’re thinking, right? If one of us died, and the killer was someone from Fukao-kun’s group…that would make him think he was wrong. There would be no other alternative.” Oh…he’s good.

“Yeah…basically…as much as it sucks to say that. It would be the only way…” I sighed. “I’m gonna look for alternatives…er…maybe…that actually sounds like a lot of work…” I could actually feel the inward groans from the six. Fight me, you should know I can’t be assed with 90% of tasks.

“You realise people’s lives are at stake right now, don’t you…?” Haruhi tapped her nails on the table. “If you don’t start taking this seriously, I’ll put some kind of curse on you! I swear it! I’ll do it!”

“M-Matsushina-san, maybe that’s a little too far…” Orochi reasoned. “…though I do agree. We don’t want anyone dying, which includes you, Sora. Please. You need to take this seriously…” Don’t give me that look…it’s like making me the leader of the group. I don’t have the responsibility for something like that…

“Whatever. You explained the situation to us…and if you’re not with them. Then you’re with us. That makes us all allies in this.” Etsuko folded her arms. “And the other nine…they must be our enemies.”

“We can’t things like that lightly.” Shin said. “Even if they don’t trust us, we’re all still in the same situation. You can’t just stand there and call them our enemies, Hanabusa-san.”

“Watch me!” Etsuko barked back. “They clearly see us as their enemies! That goes for Arishima-san and Numajiri-kun! Do you honestly think that they would be with that group if they trusted you and Okuda-san?!”

Shin stepped back, it probably hurt to know she was right. I sure as hell know it hurts right now to be in this situation…I really need to make up with Mamoru after all of this is over. “Oi! Nagata-san!” Haruhi stood over me. “Come with me for a second, will ya?”

“Hmm…?” I raised an eyebrow. “What for…?”

“Just move it, lazy idiot.” She crossed her arms and walked straight out the door. There was a silence for a few seconds before Akiko let out a small sigh.

“I suppose this concludes the meeting…?” She said, standing up. “Thanks for having us over, Nagata-kun.” Akiko bowed before she and the others left the room. Before the door closed though, Haruhi slipped back in. What was with her…?

“I guess that actually makes things a lot simpler…” She sat back down at the table. “I wanted to talk to you about our situation…and what everyone’s fates will be…”

“Huh…?” I sat up, slightly amused at the topic.

“As the Super High School Level Occultist, I do a lot of daily rituals that can sometimes yield different results. I…wanted to talk to you about a vision I had as a result of one of the visions…because, it involves Fukao-kun, and I thought you would want to hear the details.” Mamoru…? What’s she talking about? Visions?

“I don’t really believe in this sort of stuff, but I’ll listen to what you have to say.” I scratched the back of my head as Haruhi shifted a little in her seat.

“I saw Fukao-kun…kill me.” I stopped when I heard that. “But, visions are weird. Most of the time they aren’t accurate. But…I dunno. When I saw it, I got panicky…plus, at this point, I thought you should know. With…the motives, and the division in the group. I needed to tell someone.”

“And…if it is true…?” I asked wearily. Haruhi tapped on the table for a second.

“Reiko Matsushina.” She simply said.

“Hmm…?” I arched an eyebrow. “Who’s Reiko…?”

“She’s my mother. She was into the occult as well. She was what got me into the occult…but she had a vision of her death one day…it never happened. But a few days ago I had a vision of her death…and Monokuma’s motive. Well, I’m sure you can guess where this is headed…” She so willing to share her motive with me…what’s with that…?

“Haruhi…” I almost whispered her name. “Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll get out of here together.”

“Hmm?” Her head piqued up. “Where’s that statement coming from…?”

“If your mother can’t predict her death, there’s no reason to think you can. In fact. When we wake up tomorrow, I am gonna make you instant ramen…if you can help me with it…” I grinned when she let out a small laugh.

“Okay, wow. Help with instant ramen? Sora Nagata, you are useless.” She smiled as she laughed. “No wonder Fukao-kun gets pissed at you all the time…” 

“Yeah…” I laughed a little along with her before silence started to settle in. Haruhi was a lot nicer than I was expecting…maybe I shouldn’t have judged her when I first saw her. “Well, I’ll let you get on with your business. Probably don’t want me holding you back from the rest of your day.” I folded my arms behind my head.

“Alright…I’ll see you later.” She made her way for the door, stopping as she twisted the knob. “O-one more thing…could I…possibly…call you Sora…? I noticed Kamisaka-kun does, so…”

“Sure, I prefer it when people use my first name. That’s why I call everyone by their first name. Haruhi.” I winked jokingly.

“G-great!” She smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow then…S-Sora…” Fumbling, she made her way out the door. Tomorrow, huh…? There’s still probably sometime left in the day, but I don’t wanna move.

Guess I’m turning in for the night…

\--

The next morning started with the sounding of the bell and Monokuma appearing on the monitor. I didn’t even bothering listening to what he had to say, as I had just squashed my head between my pillow and mattress. It was too early in the morning for this…

But, of course, if I don’t go, Mamoru will…

Do nothing, actually…that thought made me sit up. I guess he wouldn’t really care if I showed up now…would he…?

“I should go…” I mumbled to myself.

\--

I walked into the cafeteria to find an obvious split. Between the two tables was the entirety of Mamoru’s group of nine, and at the other was all of my group, excluding Haruhi. “Uh…morning…?” I greeted lazily.

“We were beginning to wonder if you were actually going to show up.” Orochi smiled. Aw…always thinking about me. Hey, Mamoru. Where’s this ‘dark aura’? Idiot. I slid over to the table and slumped into the chair. “Now we just have to wait for Matsushina-san.”

“Where is she…? Wasn’t she one of the first here yesterday…?” Yumiko spoke over to us.

“Yeah…” Ayame nodded. “I was the very first one that arrived, then Matsushina-san came in a few seconds later…”

“She might have just overslept. Let’s wait. It’s rude to eat without everyone present.” Etsuko sat back in her chair, arms folded. But geez…what was she doing…? Even if she overslept, I don’t think Haruhi is the type of person to turn up last. I wonder what she’s doing…

…

…

…why…do I have this feeling of unease…?

“Sora?” Orochi nudged me back into reality. “Is something wrong…? You look…concerned…” I noticed Mamoru turn back to look at be from the other table. “Did something happen yesterday with Matsushina-san…?”

“Yesterday…?” I repeated, letting the word sink in for a second as the details of out talk slowly came back to me.

‘I…wanted to talk to you about a vision I had’

I stood up. Stress. I’m feeling stress. “Nagata-kun, what’s wrong?” Akiko stood up with me. “Did Matsu- Nagata-kun!” I didn’t even wait to hear the end of her sentence. I sprinted out of there. I had to know. Haruhi…please…I’m begging you here.

I knew it was serious. Panic. Stress. Sprinting. I actually sprinted…this was against everything I had taught myself to do. But, I couldn’t help it…I ended up in front of Haruhi’s room door. I grabbed the knob instinctively…it was unlocked.

“Haruhi!” I yelled in. No response. By now everyone had followed me out of the cafeteria and were just staring at me with concern or confusion. Dear God…it couldn’t really…”I’m coming in!” I announced, barging through the door.

…………this is a joke, right…?

In the corner of the room, in front of a stand with a TV laying on top of it…was the Super High School Level Occultist, Haruhi Matsushina. Her body folded over, blood everywhere around her.

A scream came from behind me as Akiko rushed into the room beside me, everyone else following suit. No…this can’t be happening…

The school bell rang as Monokuma’s monitor switched on. “Wowie! A body has been discovered!” What…? “After a certain amount of time, a class trial will begin! How exciting!”

“Class…trial…?” Robyn repeated, visibly shaking at the sight. “A….b-body…”

“Haruhi…” We were just talking yesterday. Everything was perfectly fine…

==  
_“Haruhi…” I almost whispered her name. “Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll get out of here together.”_  
==

**“Why the hell is Haruhi dead?!”** I yelled. Stressed…this was it…I’m officially stressed… 


	6. Pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the first victim uncovered, Sora and the others now have to search for evidence that'll bring the killer's identity to light.

“Matsushina-san…” Kotone mumbled, visibly shaking as we all stood staring at the body. “She can’t…really be dead, can she…?”

“Dammit!” Hiroaki slammed his fist against the wall. “What the hell?! I thought we were trying to prevent murders?! How the fuck did this happen?!”

“S-s-so…does that mean w-w-we n-need to investigate M-Mastushina-san’s b-body…?” Ryokai paled even further than he already was.

“We’ll have to.” Etsuko said, not shaken by the sight in the slightest. “Otherwise…we’ll all end up like her. Dead…except the killer, of course…”

“Th-this isn’t right though!” Ayame cried out, clutching the fabric of her dress. “I…I don’t want to do that! It’s just…too cruel…I h-hate this!”

“Get a hold of yourself.” Robyn turned to the gardener. “I know it’s hard, but you got to swallow that fear right now, at a time like this. Mastushina-san died because one of us killed her. If we don’t work together on this, then…we’ll all die…”

“But…but…” She was looking for her words, but nothing was coming out. Eventually, letting out a sigh of defeat. “Alright then…but, could I please just look over the crime scene…? It would be bad if the culprit tried to tamper with the evidence.”

“I’ll watch over the crime scene with her.” Shin volunteered. “It’s harder for the culprit to do anything when there are two people looking over the place.”

“I’d feel safer with someone like Arishima-san or Numajiri-kun looking over the crime scene.” Mamoru scoffed. Was he serious right now? Like…does he not see this in front of him? Mamoru, I know you’re cold…but this is like cryogenic, seriously.

“Is this really the time for that….?” Yumiko asked. “I mean, really, Fukao-kun. It doesn’t matter who it is, just as long as we have people watching the crime scene.”

“No, it’s fine. Hashimoto-san, maybe Fukao would feel better if you watched over the crime scene instead. I’d handle the investigation better, anyway.” Shin put his hands in his pockets.

“Why only ‘Fukao’?” Mamoru glared.

“Because you don’t deserve the honorifics…because you don’t deserve any the respect you get.” Shit. Mamoru’s fists clenched, he probably would have started swinging for him if Monokuma hadn’t appeared at that moment.

“Now now! Before you all start fighting! I really feel like I should start going over the time between discovering the corpse, and the trial beginning! It’s your investigation time, people!” He explained. “Well…that’s what it’s called, anyway. You can do whatever you want with your time.”

“So, what, we’re just told to go off on our own and hope for the best?!” Hiroaki yelled. Geez, bring it down to, like, a seven. You’re at a ten.

“Oh, of course not! I believe in making this trial completely fair for both parties! So, if you guys autopsy reports, and I think you do! Then you’re gonna love the Monokuma File!” He produced fifteen mini-tablets. “These babies’ll give you the basic information of the body! And then you guys can go from there! Well…I’ll call you all when the time for the trial comes around. Good luck!” And without anyone noticing, he vanished.

We all picked up a copy of the tablet. It simply read ‘Monokuma File 1’ on the touch screen…so…do I- ah. Yeah. Slide up and I get more information. This is just a diagram with basic information of the victim. Haruhi Matsushima. Female. Birthday October 17th. Libra. 5’5”…wow, useful. The diagram of Haruhi had some blood-coloured splotches on it. Probably where she got injured before she died. I scrolled up one more time.

‘Victim: Haruhi Matsushina. Cause of death was from a mass loss of blood. Time of death was 9:55, but the action that caused her death occurred at 9:50.’ Huh…actually, not a bad autopsy. Though ‘mass loss of blood’ is kinda vague for a cause of death. What’s up with that…?

“Hmm…?” I looked up from the tablet when I heard Robyn humming, crouched next to Haruhi’s body. Everyone already seems to have scattered…well that didn’t take long. “Well, I don’t think the TV was the murder weapon. Not a chance.”

“What makes you say that?” Ayame said, observing from a safe distance.

“Look at the blood splatter behind her. There’s no way a TV could have done that much damage.” Robyn explained. “Here, Ichimonji-chan, can you help me?”

“O-oh, sure…” I watched as Ayame and Robyn lifted the TV and placed it back on the stand, and propping Haruhi’s body back against the stand. There was a lot of blood around the stomach area. “W-was she stabbed…?” Obviously, come on. I don’t even have to look to know that much.

“Yeah. It looks kinda abnormal though…too thick to have been a knife that cause it.” Robyn adjusted her glasses. How was she able to keep her cool? “Oh…? There’s something in here…like…white shards…”

“Probably from the murder weapon!” Yumiko theorised, popping her head out from under the bed. “It only makes sense right? The stab wound probably caused her death, after all. I’ve reported a lot of crime stories, and when there’s multiple types of wounds, the stab wound is usually the fatal blow.”

“Hmm…but I wonder where they came from…” Robyn mumbled. I decided to finally move over to the body. Robyn and Ayame shifting to make room for me. Aw, how sweet those two were.

“Let me see…” I tapped my chin. Eventually I noticed the small bit of blood on the back of her hoodie’s collar. Tilting her body carefully, I found a cut and bruise on the back of her neck. So she was attacked…? There was no way that was caused by the TV, after all…

I stood up and my eyes shifted to the TV. The screen was intact, and the disturbance in the dust was at the very back of the stand...which meant-

“Hey, Nagata-kun? Did you figure something out…?” Ayame asked me, breaking my train of thought…hmm. Should I tell them? Robyn…I know I can trust. Yumiko and Ayame are…iffy…

“I’m…not sure. It’s more just observations…I can’t really piece anything together…” I rubbed the back of my head.

“Sora Nagata, the Super High School Level Riddle Solver, not being able to piece things together…? That’s worrying.” Yumiko commented. Mind your own goddamn business, will you? “Probably just because you don’t have all the pieces yet, I suppose…”

“Actually looking around here, there’s not much to see, is there…?” I said. “Kinda a pain that I’m gonna have to actually look for clues.”

“Geez, try to be a little more sympathetic, will you? Someone died.” Yumiko scoffed.

“I am being sympathetic…that’s why I’m going to be trying. I owe that much to Haruhi. I…broke a promise with her.” I mumbled that last part. I didn’t need pointless questions being thrown at me. “Whatever, I need to get going. Good luck here, I suppose.” I waved to the three as I left the room.

“Oh! Nagata-san…” Etsuko walked over to me as I left the room. “Good. I was needing someone to help me.”

“Help you?” I didn’t like where this was going.

“Investigate, of course.” Aaaand there it was. I had a plan, and you decided to come along and RUIN IT. “Come. There’s work to be done.”

“Do you even know where you want to investigate…?” I asked. “Because, I have some areas in mind.”

“Oh…do you now?” She crossed her arms. What’s that stance supposed to mean, are we about to fight? “I’d love to hear where this is going…”

“Kitchen and storage room.” I simply said, passing her. She blinked before twisting around and speed walking up next to me.

“W-well I was already planning on checking the storage room, just so you know! Don’t act so high and mighty just because we had similar thoughts!” I don’t think anyone is allowed to be high and mighty around you. You’d bite their head off. “You’re still talentless, your title just so happens to be useful this time around…”

“Oh, trust me, I don’t exactly accept ‘Riddle Solver’ as a talent either. But, less chance of dying, I guess…” Shrugging, we had entered the storage room. It was stacked up to the ceiling with boxes and boxes of different items and the like.

“Alright then, Nagata-kun. What is it you were expecting to find in here? I’m interested to find out.” Etsuko grinned with expectancy.

“Evidence, obviously.” I shrugged, walking a little further into the room.

“Y-you mean you came in here without actually having a plan?! Are you an idiot?!” God, she was so noisy. Why would anyone hire her as a choreographer? She must be a real pain to work with.

“You had a reason for wanting to investigate here, right…? So, what are you complaining for…?” I said. She looked like she wanted to argue back, but she simply folded her arms in a huff. Once again, I win. Too easy sometimes, I swear.

“F-fine, you wanna know? I was here last night just before the night-time announcement, so I wanted to see if there was anything here that could be related to Matsushina-san’s death. That’s all.” So she was here, huh…? I started looking behind the shelves and behind boxes. There was one black bag in the room, but other than that, it didn’t seem like there was anything out of the ordinary.

“Hmph…well, that’s a little disappointing…” I mumbled, scratching the back of my head.

“Actually, that plastic bag wasn’t here last night.” Etsuko pointed to the black bag. “So, it must have been put here afterwards.”

“And you only decided to mention that now…?”

“Why does that matter…?” She raised an eyebrow. “The point is that there’s new evidence, isn’t there…?”

“Yeah. I suppose that’s true. Whatever…we still got to inspect the kitchen…” I folded my arms. “You still gonna tag along…?” She looked vaguely offended when I said that. You’re right, I am so sorry for saying something so rude.

“Of course I’m tagging along. That’s why I said you were investigating with me. Geez, what’s with you, huh?”

“Hey, Etsuko…are you the killer?” Just a thought, but it made her stop. “I mean…you picked me of all people in the group. Me. The laziest person of the group. I mean, sure my talent suits the situation, but I don’t think that would have been reason enough. So, what’s your angle, huh?”

“…I’m not the killer.” She ran her fingers through her ponytail. “I was just asked to watch over you during the investigation, is all. I have no ill intent, I assure you. Whether you believe that or not is completely up to you.”

“Was this request from Mamoru…?” I shoved my hands into my pockets. Etsuko hesitated for a second. That was enough, I tried to get by her but she blocked my path. “Why are you even listening to him? He cast you aside like the rest of us, didn’t he?”

“Because he wants to protect you, and I know how it feels to not be able to protect someone. That’s why.” She growled. So she has a tragic backstory as well? “So, I don’t care if you’re pissed at Fukao-kun, and want to act like a spoiled brat about it, but I’m just doing as I was asked.”

Geez…she’s such a pain in the ass. That seems to be a running theme with all of them…just her in particular. Though, despite her attitude towards everyone, it doesn’t seem like she’s a bad person. She just has a weird way of showing she cares. I’ve noticed that people in this place seem to have some kind of backstory. Is it a requirement for the school, or…?

“Also, shouldn’t you have noticed something about that plastic bag…?” She said, walking over to it. “Check it out, it’s got lighter patches around the top. It means someone tried to open it, but they did so very carefully. I suppose they didn’t want to rip the bag open…”

“Of course, that’s just speculation.”

“Duh! Why wouldn’t it be speculation, dumbass!” She snapped. “God, do you think before speaking?!” Do you think before getting angry, wow? “Ugh, whatever. Let’s go. We still have to check out the kitchen.” She brushed her hair back behind her ear and walked by me. 

I don’t get paid enough to deal with people like this…

\--

“So that’s that…?” We heard Mamoru say as we walked into the cafeteria. He was talking to Chieko, sweet little Chieko, who wasn’t doing much of anything. Like, come on, show some character. “And did you see anybody else last night…?”

“No…” She shook her head. “I’m positive I was the only one at the main building last night!”

“Alright. That helps a….” His eyes shifted to us from the corner of his eye. He paused before looking back to Chieko. “That helps a lot, Arishima-san. Thank you for the information.”

“O-of course! I don’t mind!” She smiled sweetly, like you know that way anime characters smile and they blush at the same time. Yeah, like that. “S-sorry, I really should get back to my help with the investigation, shouldn’t I?”

“Of course, sorry to have kept you.” Mamoru bowed a little as an apology.

“Then I’ll see you later. Bye, Fukao-kun!” She smiled once more before dashing past us and out of the cafeteria. I turned back around to find myself locked into a gaze with Mamoru.

“So…how has your investigation been going…?” He asked, folding his arms.

“Oh, it’s been great. So much better with the babysitter you appointed.” That was a little venomous for my standards, seriously. “I mean, I love it when someone is so attached that they have to give me a human tracking device just so they know what I’m doing all the time.”

“Nagata-kun…” Etsuko grabbed my forearm tightly. “What did I tell you…?”

“No, it’s fine. I figured he would find out.” Mamoru waved his hand to dismiss Etsuko. “I felt like picking someone from who you trust would have made it easier. Plus, Hanabusa-san was more than happy to help out. I’m just worried about you, Sora…you can’t blame me.”

“I’m not I kid anymore, Mamoru. Neither are you…in fact, now that I think about it, it was never really me that needed the protecting, was it…?” I shouldn’t have said that. Even if he kept a straight face, I could tell that stung him on the inside.

“Yes…I suppose…anyway, did you manage to uncover anything? Are the pieces falling into place yet…?”

“Not yet, no. Not enough information…but I can already tell that this is gonna be a pain to solve…” I grumbled a little when I said that. I guess Mamoru’s trying to be nice, since he didn’t hit me and start lecturing about taking it seriously.

“What about you? What have you been doing…?” Etsuko asked. “It seemed like you were asking Arishima-chan about her alibi.”

“I was. I’ve been collecting everyone’s alibis. Most of them were in their rooms, but Arishima-san was in the main building, Yamahata-kun was using the bathhouse, and Araki-kun alongside Hayashi-kun were in the kitchen washing the dishes like I asked them to. Call it Araki-kun’s punishment for breaking those dishes yesterday.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that.” Etsuko recalled. “It was a pretty big crash, must have broken a lot of plates.”

“Right…” Mamoru nodded. “We had to use the ones in the storage room, hopefully he’ll be more careful. There aren’t any more plates…speaking of which. You weren’t at dinner last night, Sora. Care to explain why?”

“Hmm?” I raised my eyebrow. Now he was suspecting me? What’s your game? “I was in my room the whole night. Didn’t really feel like leaving, so I just relaxed the day away. What about you, huh…?”

I remember what Haruhi had said to me about her vision. Mamoru was going to kill her, and the next day, she ends up dead. Even if it’s a slim chance, I want to know…

“I, too, was in my room. Though I spoke with Numajiri-kun around 9:50 at my room for a while, so I couldn’t have gone off to kill Matsushina-san, if that’s what you were thinking.” Hmm…I wonder if it’s that simple…

“Alright then.” I nodded. “Sounds easy enough to remember. C’mon, Etsuko, we should start investigating the kitchen.”

“I wish you wouldn’t be so formal with someone you just met…” She mumbled as we passed Mamoru. That look in his eyes when I walked by him…he’s hiding something from me. Geez, what a pain he is…

The kitchen seemed to be in perfect condition upon entering. There were clean dishes stacked by the sink. What? Was it too much effort to actually put them away? Shame on those two. Speaking of which, nobody seemed to be around either. I have to wonder where they went.

“You know, you said we should have come here…but there’s not much to see, is there…?” Etsuko observed, walking over to the sink. “I mean, unless you wanted to admire the plate stacking skills of Hayashi-kun, and Araki-kun.”

“Don’t be ridiculous…” I mumbled. My eyes shifted over to the bin by the door. It was empty, the black bag that should be in it wasn’t sticking out from under the top. Someone must have moved it since yesterday…most likely the bag we saw in the storage room.

“Oooh…I can see it.” A voice came from by the sink. The two of us glanced down to see Takashi peeking out from the cupboard below the sink, staring up at Etsuko. “Your panties are black with red polka dots.”

“Wha…?” Etsuko flushed. “Y-you pervert!!!” She screamed, dragging Takashi from the cupboard and throwing him against the counter. “I-is that what you get off on, you creep?!”

“Y-you were just standing in view when I came out of there! I never meant anything by it, I mean it, Hanabusa-sama!” Takashi pleaded. ‘Sama’? What the hell kind of relationship did those two have?

“What were you even doing under there, huh?!” Etsuko demanded.

“I was investigating, but I did my way. I like enclosed spaces, so I climbed in there a minute or so before you guys came in.” He explained. Was he serious…? I never knew there were types of people who enjoyed small spaces like that. Kinda creepy, Etsuko was right.

“Hmph. Do that again and you’re dead meat, got it?” She let go of him, still slightly flustered from what I could see. Aw, she has a cute side. I guess even demons have something to make them appealing.

“Oh, actually, this is kinda perfect.” I scratched my cheek. “Hey, Takashi, you and Ryokai were here last night to wash the dishes, right?”

“Huh…? Oh! Yeah!” Takashi nodded. “We were told to do it by Fukao-kun…h-he was pretty scary after you left yesterday. He just started yelling at everyone…” That’s so typical of him. Taking his anger out on others when it was his actions that led to something… “Th-though, I was a little late with arrival.”

“What do you mean…?” Etsuko raised an eyebrow. “You mean you were doing something beforehand?”

“Right.” Takashi said. “Ryo-chan mentioned that it was his birthday so I wanted to get him a present from the school store! It…took a lot longer than I wanted it to…I ended up getting here five minutes before the night-time announcement.” 9:55…the event that caused Haruhi’s death occurred before he arrived. But…he has no way of confirming his alibi until we see whatever it was that he bought. “Though…I’m a little disappointed, because there wasn’t anything that really suited Ryo-chan in the school store.”

How convenient…

“Though, I’ll say you did well to finish the dishes in five minutes.” Etsuko said, looking at the stack. “Dried and everything.”

“Oh, that part wasn’t the problem.” Takashi smiled. “Monokuma said we could stay as long as it took for us to finish the dishes, but the water shuts off during night-time, so we had to move fast when we were washing the dishes. Luckily I’m really fast with my hands, so it was easy!”

“And what did you do when you finished…?” I asked.

“Hmm…well, I left Ryo-chan to drying the dishes that were left, but I felt kinda bad for leaving him like that. So…I took the trash from the bin out. Or…at least I would have. The garbage disposal in the laundrette doesn’t work during at night either. So, I ended up leaving it in the storage room.” Ah…so that’s where that came from…

Wait…some of those things are strange. I looked over at the rack of knives, they were all perfectly polished clean. Not just that, but Takashi’s alibi…

“Oh! Also, something else whilst we’re talking about bins!” Well, that’s a weird sentence. “Hashimoto-chan and I were talking about what we found so far and she said that there was an envelope in Matsushina-chan’s bin, covered in blood!” Envelope…? Probably the one that held her motive

==  
 _“Reiko Matsushina.” She simply said._  
==

That was who her motive was…they must have been really close for her to have said that to me. If I get out of here, breaking news like that to her mother…how am I expected to do that…? How is anyone expected to do that…?

“Oi! Nagata-kun!” Etsuko snapped her fingers. “Got any ideas yet…?” I still haven’t gotten every piece of the puzzle…but I feel like it might be close to coming all together. I have my suspicions on who the killer is, but…nothing solid has come up yet.

“Sorry…no idea…” I said, to which Etsuko sighed with great annoyance. Wow, sorry, bitch. Not everyone figures stuff out right away. No need to get so pissed off.

“So, we’re basically going into this trial without knowing anything?! How the hell are we supposed to-“ The school bell rang at that moment. There were no monitors in the kitchen itself but we could still hear that bear’s annoying voice through the loudspeakers.

“Alright, bastards! Prep time is over! Head over to the red door in the main building! I have a very special guest waiting for you all to arrive before the trial starts!” A guest…? Somehow I don’t like the sound of that.

“Dammit…” Etsuko cursed under her breath as she started making her way out of the kitchen. “Guess we got no choice. Gonna just have to hope that what we’ve got is enough for when we get in there.”

“Don’t worry about a thing, Hanabusa-sama! Nagata-chan will definitely figure out what happened!” Takashi assured her, following the choreographer out of the room. Why does he have so much faith in me…? It makes no sense…I haven’t given him a reason to have faith in me.

Whatever, his choice…

\--

I was heading to the main building, a few of the others in close proximity. Kotone, Fumio, Hiroaki, and Ryokai were the ones in view. None of them seemed particularly worried…well…other than Ryokai, but that’s…his thing…

“Grk!” A loud growl came from behind me, as the pacing of shoes picked up. “Nagata!!!” I turned just in time to see Yumiko swing her hand to backhand me in the face. “You…bastard…”

“H-Hashimoto-chan?!” Hiroaki seemed visibly shaken by her outburst. Not that I blame him, I’m pretty surprised as well.

“Hashimoto-san! You shouldn’t have done that!” Ayame said as she and Robyn ran up next to the reporter. “You need to calm down, it could hurt how you are in the tri-“

“Screw that! Screw it all!” She cut her off. “This…bastard…” Her eyes, flared with rage sent a chill down me. “Nagata…you killed Matsushina-san, didn’t you?!”

“…eh…?”

“Don’t give me such a half-assed reaction!” She really was like a female Mamoru. Though she didn’t slap as hard, which was good. “I found that note in her hoodie’s pocket…it was mostly soaked by her blood…except for the name ‘Nagata’…you…I’ll never forgive you for what you did!”

“H-Hashimoto-san…” Robyn frowned. “…we need to go…we can save that for the trial, alright…?” Yumiko’s fists balled up, her knuckles white. She was seriously pissed off. She’d probably kill me if she had the option…that note…what the hell? Was someone trying to frame me?

“Fine.” She growled, stomping past me with Ayame at her side, Hiroaki following behind. Kotone, Fumio, and Ryokai all took one last look at me before heading off. Robyn though…she was still here, crouched down next to me. How romantic.

“Are you alright…?” She helped me up. “I feel bad for you. I can’t imagine that Hashimoto-san is light with her hits.”

“Meh, it’s nothing bad. I’ve been hit way harder, y’know?” I shrugged. Robyn gave a weak smile, though it only lasted for half a second before she frowned.

“He…really is scared for you…” Robyn murmured. “…and, I’m guessing the others have been saying the same things, but…I could see it. The pain behind Fukao-kun’s voice and face when you said you two were enemies.”

“He said we were all enemies.”

“Call me neutral then!” She declared. “I don’t want any part of this divide! Can’t you see what damage it’s already done?! Just from looking around…Yamahata-kun doesn’t trust anyone, Arishima-chan and Numajiri-kun are scared to talk to Okuda-san and Tamuro-kun because they’re scared of what Fukao-kun might say, or how the others will judge them…” She was trembling. How badly was this hurting her…? “Th-this isn’t the environment I came here for. I wanted somewhere we would all find a way to get along…just along as we all had hope that would create a bond for us…”

“Robyn, don’t say stuff like that.” I put a hand on her shoulder. “I…have suspicions on who the killer might be. But I’m not sure yet. I need more time, so I need you to do me a favour, but I need to know if you think I’m the culprit or not.” She seemed slightly off guard when I asked, but she quickly regained her composure to answer.

“No…I trust you, remember?”

“Well, Yumiko doesn’t. And that’s problematic. So, when we get in there, I need you to stall for time if necessary. Just until I can fit all the pieces together.”

“…alright, I’ll do what I can, on one condition.” Hmm? She’s trying to make bargains with me…? Interesting girl, aren’t you? “After this trial, you have to talk to Fukao-kun and get this sorted out. It doesn’t have to be today, but tomorrow for sure…please…it’s the only way we can start to repair what’s been broken.”

Man…this’ll be a hassle…”Fine, fine…I’ll talk to the guy. But I can’t promise that it’ll solve anything.”

“R-really…? Thanks, Nagata-kun!” She smiled sweetly. This better be worth it in the end…

\--

Robyn and I were the last to arrive at the red door, which, by the way had not appeared at all until just now. Did Monokuma have some way of sealing it away? If so, that was really impressive.

The glares that I was receiving were…unpleasant, to say the least. Yumiko, Hiroaki (what a fucking follower), even Chieko looked wary towards me. Takashi seemed worried as well, but not in the same way. He might be concerned about me…I don’t know why though. I’ll be fine.

“That’s everyone…?” Orochi asked. “Good…I hope everyone did well in their investigation…?”

“Th-there’s, uh…room for debate on whether we got enough info or not…” Akiko admitted. “But, I think we’ll be fine. We just need to work together once we’re in there.”

“Oh, trust me, we have more than enough evidence for who the killer is.” Yumiko folded her arms. “And I intend to bring the truth to light.”

“As do all of us, but you better not let your emotions get the better of you, Hashimoto-san.” Mamoru said.

“That aside…where the hell is Monokuma…?” Kotone asked.

“Monokuma-sama will not be the one who will guide you all down…that shall be my duty…” The red door slowly creaked open. A tall brunet man, maybe three years older than us, stood there. He wore rectangular grey-framed glasses, and was dressed in a tuxedo, similar to Shin’s, he bowed and beckoned us into the room. “My name is Motoki Hakamada, the ex-Super High School Level Butler.” Everyone was taken aback by the man’s appearance. Weren’t we the only ones here?

“What the hell…? Are you the one that trapped us in here?!” Hiroaki demanded.

“Perish the thought…” Motoki shook his head. “Apologies, Yamahata-sama. I am simply following the orders of the mastermind in order to save my life. Much like you are by participating in the trial.”

“So, are you like the mastermind’s slave or something…?” Ayame asked, serious concern in her voice.

“Yes, something like that…” He pushed his glasses up with a gloved hand. “I suppose I was slightly lucky that I didn’t get forced into this cruel game…which I sympathise you for, I really do.”

“Who the hell is the person behind all of this, then?! Who trapped us in here?!” Yumiko stomped in front of him. “You know who it is, don’t you?!”

“Yes…I do.” His tone is…familiar to me…but I don’t know where from. “Unfortunately, I am banned from speaking their name. They would kill me otherwise.”

“So you’re just another pawn in this game…” Orochi sighed. “That sucks…really.”

“Indeed. But, in any case, I shall have you all follow me.” He turned and guided us into the red door room. It was…smaller than I was expecting. There was an elevator in the back of the room, but other than that, it was completely bare in here. “The trial room is just below. I wish you all the best of luck.” The elevator rose from down below and opened up in front of us.

“Follow on, if you please.” Motoki walked into the elevator, hesitantly, we all made out way onto the elevator with him. I was shoved into a corner with Shin to my right and Akiko right in front of me.

The shutters closed over and we started to gently descend underground. The elevator was completely silent, in the ominous way…which wasn’t a bad thing. It gives me time to think about what’s happened.

Haruhi Matsushina, the Super High School Level Occultist. Nobody really knew much about her, but from I saw she was someone who would be caring enough to help everyone if they asked her. Even if her demeanour was…brutal, to say the least.

But someone like that being killed? Did someone here really do that…? I find it hard to believe, but I saw the body for myself. I know who my suspects are, but…is the evidence gonna be enough to show me who the killer actually is? It…it has to. I owe Haruhi this much.

But god, are you kidding me? I’m making this trial quick. Screw a full blown battle between hope and despair.

God, this is such a pain in the ass!


	7. Shards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The curtain rises on the first class trial: Victim Haruhi Matsushina. Who could the killer possibly be...?

The elevator screeched to a halt, the shutter slowly opening the way into the trial room. It looked like this place was trying to symbolise some sort of demonic ritual. Maybe because Haruhi was the Super High School Level Occultist? 

There was a circle of stands in the centre of the room, sixteen of them in total. One of the stands had a portrait behind it…what the hell…? Was this something Monokuma added? “Alright, bastards, I labelled your stands, so go to your assigned seat!” The bear then pointed to Motoki. “And you! Get over here! You’re only here to watch the trial!”

“Yes, Monokuma-sama.” Motoki bowed, walked over to Monokuma who was sat on a golden throne with red cushioning. He was acting high and mighty, wasn’t he? Urgh, this is giving me a headache. Everyone eventually took their assigned ‘seats’ as Monokuma called them. I was directly opposite from where Monokuma was, behind the stands. Clockwise from me was Haruhi’s portrait, Hiroaki, Yumiko, Mamoru, Ayame, Takashi, Robyn, Ryokai, Chieko, Fumio, Kotone, Orochi, Etsuko, Shin, and Akiko.

I looked to the side, why was it necessary for Haruhi’s portrait to be here? Was it supposed to be some kind of joke to him?

“Alright, now we will begin with a simple explanation of the class trial!” Monokuma started. “First of all, your votes will determine the outcome of the trial. You will debate on various topics and vote for ‘whodunnit’! If you choose the correct culprit, then the killer alone shall be punished…but pick the wrong person, and I’ll punish everyone besides the killer! What fun! What fun!”

“What cruel rules, Monokuma-sama…” Motoki sighed inwardly.

“Eh? Nobody asked you!” Monokuma growled at the butler. “Now, let’s get to the real surprise!” Monokuma slammed a button on the arm of the throne. The ground under everyone shook, almost knocking a few off balance.

Out of nowhere, the ground we were standing on raised into the air, Monokuma’s throne following suit, with Motoki sitting on the throne’s arm. Eventually were only a few feet under the ceiling, and the ground a distant memory. Hehe…listen to me, being poetic.

“Wh-what the hell is this?!” Etsuko pointed at Monokuma.

“An in-air trial? Who wouldn’t be thrilled by that concept?! Plus, it means anyone accused can’t escape, unless they wanna go ‘splat’!”

“Truly a crude thought…” Motoki commented.

“I already said that nobody cares what you say!” Monokuma growled again. “Anyway, let’s do this thing, yeah?!”

“Hey, before we start, can I ask one quick question?” Kotone put her hand up, not fazed by the sudden level change. “Is the killer really someone here? It’s not just gonna end up being you, is it…?”

“Heavens no! I would never! Haruhi Matsushina was for sure killed by one of you! I mean, does that really surprise you? You millennials are capable of some crafty crimes, you know?” The bear giggled.

“And what’s the story with that?” Hiroaki pointed to Haruhi’s portrait. 

“Hmm? Well, just because she’s dead, doesn’t mean she should miss out of the fun! It’s like she’s still here, am I right?!” Sick bastard. I’d have someone knock some sense into him if it wasn’t punishable… “But, with that out of the way! Let the trial begin!” He finished by sticking a paw in the air.

“Y-you’re t-t-telling us to b-begin…b-but wh-where to we even st-start with th-this…?” Ryokai asked.

“For now, let’s talk about the murder weapon. We need to figure out what the killer used to kill Matsushina-san with.” Orochi suggested. “…actually, taking a step further back, let’s talk about what wound caused her death…”

“Right. There was a lot of blood at the crime scene, and Haruhi had sustained quite a few injuries according to the Monokuma File…which, I’m guessing is accurate.” Fumio said.

“Absolutely! Everything in that file is to make this trial completely fair for both sides! After all, it’s 14 brains against one in this trial.” Monokuma reminded.

“According to Monokuma File, Matsushina-chan was injured in her stomach, on her head and on her neck. So…how do we tell which wound killed her…?” Takashi frowned.

“I bet it was the head injury!” Hiroaki smirked. Was he serious…? “There’s no way anyone could survive a head injury from behind bashed in by that TV!” God, what an idiot.

“Sorry, that’s wrong.” I shook my head. Looks like I’m gonna have to help if his example is the standard we’re all gonna work at. “There’s no way that the TV killed Haruhi.”

“What? How the hell would you know?” Hiroaki looked over at me.

“Because he looked at the crime scene for longer than five seconds, that’s why.” Robyn spoke up. Yes, girl, you got my back. “Anyone that actually examined Matsushina-san’s body would be able to see that the stab wound would have killed her. It’s where the most blood loss came from.”

“O-oh…really…heh, my bad.” Hiroaki gave a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his neck. “I was investigating the main building, so I didn’t really see anything in the crime scene…”

“Yeah, we could tell.” Yumiko rolled her eyes. “Okay, so we established the fatal wound, which is great. But here’s an interesting question; where did that neck injury come from?”

“Oh yeah. The head wound was from the TV being thrown on her-“

“I’m not sure about that, actually.” I cut Akiko off. “The TV screen was in perfect condition, so it wasn’t thrown down on her.”

“Then…how did she get that head injury…?” Ayame placed a finger to her lips in thought.

“It was probably still the TV…it just wasn’t an intentional injury.” Etsuko guessed. Yeah, I guess that makes sense. “Maybe she was knocked into the stand and the TV fell on top of her?”

“Dust…” Ayame shook her head. Oh? So she noticed it too? Perceptive. “I noticed that there was a disturbance in the dust at the back of the stand, even if the TV was knocked over, it wouldn’t have been able to fall onto Matsushina-san…”

“So the killer must have physically dropped it onto her, is that what you’re saying?” Mamoru clarified. “Interesting…alright, now let’s try moving onto the murder weapon. That still remains a mystery.”

“I-i-it was a st-stab wound that k-k-killed her, r-r-right?” Ryokai fiddled with the back of his beanie.

“Oh! Oh! I know what you’re trying to say!” Takashi cut in. “Ryo-chan means that the killer must have just used a knife to kill Matsushina-chan! Right?! Right?!”

“Y-y-yeah, th-that’s it…” Ryokai smiled weakly. Sorry, kid, but…

“I don’t think it was knife…” Yumiko spoke up before me. “I remember back when Hutchison-san and Ichimonji-san were investigating the body, they said that the stab wound was too thick for it to have been a knife.”

“If you twist the knife a little, then it could have enlarged the wound. That’s not a full argument.” Shin disagreed. “I think it may have been a knife as well. There were no other sharp instruments that could have been used to kill her, after all.”

No other sharp objects, huh…? I mean…that might not be entirely true…but for now, the knife needs to be ruled out. Everyone should be on the same page. “No, it wasn’t the knives. I’m positive about that.” Yumiko didn’t seem to like the fact that I was agreeing with her. Well, sorry about that.

“Hmm…? I don’t see how. Sounds fine to me…” Kotone folded her arms. “A knife-“

“They were too clean, right…?” Etsuko cut the bounty hunter off. “I think I understand what you mean Nagata-kun.”

“Yeah, there is that.” I nodded. “Takashi and Ryokai were occupying the kitchen for a good while before Haruhi was actually killed. They couldn’t wash the knife in the sink because they didn’t actually leave until after the night-time announcement. After all, the water gets shut off after 10pm.”

“Wait, you two got to stay in the cafeteria after night-time? I thought we were supposed to leave because it was off limits?” Kotone said.

“Ah! That would be my doing!” Monokuma admitted. “I allowed Takashi Hayashi, and Ryokai Araki to stay after night-time as long as they were doing clean-up duty!”

“I see. That makes sense.” Mamoru nodded. “But, couldn’t the killer have just washed the knife in sink in Matsushina-san’s bathroom?”

“Could have. Though then the problem of getting the knife back into the kitchen without anyone noticing would have been a problem, don’t you think? And, in fact, making it even easier…Ryokai, were all the knives there when you left?” I looked directly across to the nervous exorcist.

“O-o-oh, um…y-yeah, I th-think so…” He nodded.

“So, if that’s true, then what did the killer use to stab Matsushina-san?” Orochi asked. “It wasn’t a knife, so what’s left…?” C’mon, that much should be obvious.

“What about a makeshift weapon?” Shin suggested. “You can make anything a weapon if you try hard enough. Take it from me.” That’s not something you should be grinning about in the middle of a trial, dude.

“A makeshift weapon…?” Akiko repeated curiously. “But…everything else would be a blunt object, wouldn’t it?”

“Then they just turned it into a sharp object, obviously.” I shrugged. “Not really hard considering Ryokai and Takashi demonstrated it yesterday. Or…rather just Ryokai. He smashed all those plates.”

“A-ah…s-so th-the killer u-use a pl-plate to k-k-kill M-Matsushina-san…th-that makes sense…” Even at that though…it’s not enough for a definite answer.

“Okay, so there’s that, but what else? I always saying having another point to back it up will always help out in the end.” Fumio twirled his gavel. Yeah…exactly what I was thinking…

“O-oh, um…maybe…” Chieko fumbled trying to give her opinion. “The, uh…the Monokuma File…I think…th-the, uh…”

“C’mon, Ari-chan, if you got something to say then there’s no need to be nervous!” Kotone smiled supportively. Chieko took a moment to breath and nodded.

“The Monokuma File…it mentions that neck wound…could that have something to do with it…?” Heh. She’s smarter than you’d expect. The neck wound is probably what I would have went for as well.

“Yeah, sounds about right.” I nodded. “She had a bruise and a cut on the back of her neck. It’s likely that the plate was smashed against the back of her neck which caused that injury, and then they stabbed her afterwards.”

“Why would they go through that trouble…? Using the knife would have been so much easier, don’t you think?” Akiko said. She was right, it would have been easier…but that probably wasn’t what they were going for…

“I guess because you can’t knock someone out with a knife as easily as you can when using a plate.” I shrugged. I need a little more time before presenting the real idea.

“Okay then, moving on…” Robyn pushed her glasses up. “How did the killer dispose of the plate afterwards? You don’t use a makeshift weapon like a plate without the intent of disposing it afterwards…”

“Y-y-yeah, t-true…” Ryokai agreed. “M-maybe the ki-killer u-u-used the b-black bag th-that Takashi m-moved to the st-storage room.” C’mon, do better than that, will you. That’s not even a challenge.

“Sorry, that’s wrong.” I shook my head. “When Etsuko and I were investigating the storage room, she pointed out that someone had tried to open the black bag, but they couldn’t actually get it open without ripping it. Clearly, they didn’t want to do that.”

“Then what about the garbage disposal in the laundrette? They would have probably just used that instead, right?” Ayame suggested. No…that’s not it either…but I don’t have the evidence to finalise my accusation. God, my headache is getting worse by the second.

“Then I suppose if we’re done with all that, we can move onto accusations. Correct?” Yumiko’s demeanour changed in a split second when she said that. Well, I guess I’ve had some time to prepare for this. “Sora Nagata…you killed Matsushina-san, didn’t you?!”

“S-Sora?!” Mamoru stepped back a little. Careful, that drop is pretty big. “Hashimoto-san, you can’t serious think that someone as lazy as him would actually go through the effort to kill someone, do you?”

“It doesn’t matter how lazy he is! There’s clear evidence that says he’s the killer!” She reached into her pocket and pulled out the note. Just as I expected her to. “This note was in Matsushina-san’s pocket! It’s illegible for the most part, but one thing it clearly says is the name ‘Nagata’!”

“Wh-what…? Sora…?” Orochi stared at me. Don’t look at me like that…this seriously isn’t helping me out. Ah…my head is seriously hurting right now.

“Ooo~ what drama!” Monokuma giggled. Why that little-

“You’re enjoying this far too much, Monokuma-sama…” Motoki mumbled.

“Of course I am! This is almost like a real trial, don’t you think so?! Why, I love watching this clash of hope and despair!”

“Urgh, shut up, I know who did it already!” I snapped…oops…

“Hmm?” Shin raised an eyebrow. “You know who the killer is?”

“Y-yeah right! He’s probably just saying that because he doesn’t want Hashimoto-chan to take him down! Pathetic, really!” Hiroaki jumped in. Oh shut up.

“Give him a chance.” Orochi pleaded. “I don’t think Sora would have done this, I really don’t.”

“…I see…hmph. Very well, then. Sora, who exactly is the killer?” Mamoru looked at me. God…why do I have to get put on the spot like this…? Also, what was that tone just now…?

“..The thing is…there’s still a missing piece in this to make it definite, so I don’t want to throw it out there yet…” It was a weak excuse, but it was true. I don’t know how to finish this off, and if I make an accusation now, then it’ll just sound like I’m trying to buy time.

“Sounds like an excuse, frankly.” Yumiko scoffed. “The only person the evidence is pointing to, is you. Not to mention that you don’t even have an alibi! Or were you ‘in your room all last night’?”

“Hashimoto-san, calm down, seriously!” Robyn interrupted. “Did you ever consider that someone might have been framing Nagata-kun this whole time? This could be a set-up by the real killer.”

“Don’t tell me you actually buy his story?” Yumiko folded her arms. “That’s poor form, Hutchison-san. Seriously.”

“I trust Nagata-kun, that’s why! Anyone that thinks someone like him could kill another without a real theory…they’re the one that’s in poor form, you hear me?!” Robyn pointed at the reporter. Wow, that was fiercer than I was expecting. But it works, I guess.

“What the hell is with you…?” Yumiko mumbled. “There’s…nobody else that could have done it, right? Nagata-kun said himself that he didn’t have any theory to present, and there’s nobody else that’s suspicious.” I gulped when she said that. Glancing over at Mamoru…there was still something about his alibi that could cause concerns for him…

“That’s not necessarily true.” Etsuko spoke up. Huh…? Was she thinking the same as me? “As a matter of fact, there’s one other person I’ve found rather suspicious. Hayashi-kun! I accuse you!”

“E-eh?! H-Hanabusa-sama?!” Takashi jumped a little out of surprise. “Y-you can’t be serious! I would have never hurt Matsushina-san!”

“Hanabusa-sama…?” Hiroaki raised his eyebrow at the honorific. As if you can speak, you use ‘chan’ on a girl who’s clearly not even aware of your existence.

“Oh is that so…? Then just where were you when the murder took place, care to answer that?” Etsuko folded her arms. She was dead serious about this…but I suppose there were some things off about Takashi as well.

“I told you that already, didn’t I…? I was in the main building at the time! I was looking for a present I could give to Ryo-chan for his birthday!”

“M-m-my bi-birthday…? Y-y-you kn-know you d-didn’t have to d-d-do th-that…” Ryoaki murmured.

“Yeah, don’t thank me about it. I couldn’t actually find anything that would have been good as a present…and I searched for ages! Ugh! It’s really frustrating!” The archaeologist pouted.

“Arishima-san!” Etsuko turned sharply to the shrine maiden. “You said to Fukao-kun that you were in the main building before the murder, right?!”

“A-ah, yes…” Chieko nodded meekly. “Th-though, I don’t remember seeing you, Hayashi-kun…th-the only person I saw was Matsushina-san, and that was after I left the main building, she was maybe heading to the cafeteria…” Huh? She saw Haruhi…? But she never mentioned anything until now…maybe it just slipped her mind…?

“That doesn’t matter right now. Hayashi-kun, where were you when the murder occurred?!” Etsuko slammed her fist on her stand. “If you don’t have an alibi, it makes you a prime suspect!”

“B-b-but, I…I’d never do something like that! Y-you all believe me right?!” He looked at the others in the room, but nobody said anything. “R-Ryo-chan…?”

“W-w-w-well…I d-d-don’t th-think you did it…b-b-but you sh-should st-still clarify wh-where you were…” Wow, never expected Ryokai to be such a snake to his friends.

“B…but…I…” He was starting to tear up a little. What was so hard for him to say…? I’m starting to feel sorry for the little guy.

“He was with me.” Hiroaki spoke up. Hmm…? This should be interesting. “Hayashi-chan and I were in the bathhouse until he left to clean the dishes with Araki-kun.” ‘Chan’? For Takashi? How close did you two get when you were in that bathhouse…? I smell some tea that needs to be spilled.

“If that’s true, then why didn’t he just say so in the first place? In fact, even more so, why didn’t you say anything when I asked you about your alibi?” Mamoru questioned. “That’s rather strange, wouldn’t you agree, Yamahata-kun?”

“Yeah, I guess it is…but, Hayashi-chan asked me to stay quiet about it. But…I can’t just stand here when you accuse the kid. He’s not the killer, I know that.” Hiroaki folded his arms behind his head. “Now, do you believe me or not?”

“We have no reason not to.” Shin shrugged. “Though, I would rather know why Hayashi-kun wanted to keep it a secret so much.” Takashi twiddled with his thumbs that were barely visible from the baggy trench-coat.

“U-uh…th-the thing is…I d-don’t know…” His voice trailed off after that…but…did he just say-

“Did you just say you didn’t know how to wash yourself properly?” Akiko giggled. “And, you’re a high school student?”

“Sh-sh-shut up! It’s not funny!” Takashi flushed. “I d-didn’t want anyone knowing, so I asked Yamahata-nii to keep it a secret.” That’s…uh…’nii’ in the figurative sense…right…? I refuse to believe those two are related.

“When the hell did you start calling me that…?” Hiroaki chuckled. “Heh…whatever! The point is that Hayashi-chan isn’t the killer, right?”

“I suppose not. Sorry about that, but you understand my actions, right?” Etsuko bowed a little.

“Y-yeah, no worries about it, Hanabusa-sama!” Takashi smiled. “But…it doesn’t really help a lot, does it…? We still don’t know who killed Matsushina-chan…”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that.” Orochi disagreed. “Sora…you’ve got some kind of look in your eye, as if to say you’ve figured it all out.”

“Hmm? Oh, I guess I have…I was just waiting for everyone to finish talking so I could say it.” I put my hand against my forehead. Urgh…my head…

“Just try to calm yourself.” Mamoru said…softly…what the hell…? “If you have it figured out, just let the words come to you. You don’t do well when you overcomplicate things, you just end up giving yourself bad headaches. Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”

“Wow, you two really are close…hmm…or would it be you were…?” Orochi smiled. Wow, didn’t expect that from him. Savage, boy, savage.

“Alright then…” I took a breath, letting my headache die down a little bit. The pieces have all fallen into place…finally… “Here’s everything that happened:

“This murder actually starts a little further back than today. Yesterday, an incident occurred where a numerous amount of plates had been smashed, that’s where the killer’s first idea for their plan came from. They also had to pick their victim, and how they were gonna carry out their plan. So, they sent them a note, for some unknown reason they used my name of said note, maybe because they thought Haruhi trusted me the most. Though the only reason they chose to lure Haruhi out of her room was because something expected came up. We can thank Mamoru for that one.

“As Chieko stated, around the time of the murder, Haruhi had left her room and headed to where the killer asked to meet; the kitchen. Upon entering the kitchen, and meeting with the killer, she was attacked with one of the plates, resulting in her neck wound, and knocking her out. Of course, that alone isn’t enough to kill her, so they also stabbed Haruhi with one of the plate shards, obvious when you consider that there were white shards in her wound.

“However, the killer had to hide the body because they knew that somebody else was arriving soon. So, they stuffed the body inside the cupboard under the sink, and placed the unused shards in the bin, which just blended in with the rest of the plate shards. That’s when Takashi arrived to help clean the dishes, though lucky for them, it almost left them with an alibi. The killer played it cool the whole time, and said they would stay to dry the dishes after Takashi quickly scrubbed them all. Though, one thing they weren’t expecting was when Takashi took the bin bag out left it in the storage room.

“The killer then waited a bit after the night-time announcement before dragging Haruhi’s body over to her room. Her key was probably on her person, so there would have been no problem getting in. This was risky, but I’m guessing that the killer was willing to risk anything, otherwise they wouldn’t have killed her in the first place. They propped Haruhi’s body against the nightstand in her room and removed the shard from her stomach. Then they placed the TV on top of Haruhi's body, probably to make it look like a struggle occurred in her room. A good idea, actually, since it wouldn't make us think of anywhere else being the crime scene. Of course, because it was after night-time, they couldn’t wash the plate shard, so they did the next best thing. They wiped off most of the blood with the envelope that held Haruhi’s motive. Which was later found during the investigation, then left to dispose of it.

“It’s…actually pretty crafty, and you almost got away with it if it weren’t for Chieko seeing Haruhi. Isn’t that a little unfortunate… **Ryokai Araki** …?” Everyone was already looking at the exorcist before I had finished my explanation. The kid had gone white, like, whiter than white.

“R-Ryo…chan…?” Takashi laughed a little. “That can’t be true, right…? There’s no way that you could do something like this, right?”

“Anyone’s capable of murder, Hayashi-kun.” Robyn pushed her glasses up. “What do you have to say for your defence, Araki-kun? Even if it may come as a shock to you, as long as you’re innocent, then there should be no problem, right?”

“A-a-a-ah….a-a-ah…” Ryokai struggled for words, everything he came out with was just a mumbled, jumbled mess. We weren’t gonna get anywhere with this. Unless this is supposed to be his strategy for getting everyone to think that he couldn’t be the killer. If so, fair play.

“If you want, I may be able to translate what he is saying.” Motoki raised his hand. “Only if you wish.”

“It would really help us, Hakamada-kun. Really.” Ayame nodded.

“As you wish, Ichimonji-sama…I believe Araki-sama is trying to say ‘if I killed Matsushina-san in the kitchen, then there should be some blood somewhere, right?’…if I am correct.” Ryokai nodded shakily to confirm it.

“That’s not a problem. When you stab someone, not a lot of blood is actually lost. It’s when you pull the blade out where you lose the most blood. If you mopped up the blood that left her body at first and then put something under her for any dripping blood.” I put my hands in my pocket. It wasn’t something that was hard to answer. Like, come on, give me a break.

“B-b-b-b-but th-th-then the-there’s….” Ryokai tried.

“Hmm…’but then there’s the fact that all you are saying is speculation. You don’t actually have any proof to say I killed Matsushina-san. After all, the murder weapon was disposed, as you said.” Motoki translated. Hmph. He was actually pretty useful.

“Y-y-y-yeah!” Ryokai gritted his teeth. Oh? This was new. “Y-y-y-you went o-o-on and on ab-about h-how I’m th-th-the ki-killer, b-but you h-have no pr-proof! Wh-where’s the we-weapon if I r-really did k-kill her?! H-h-h-huh?!”

“Ryo-chan…you’re scaring me…” Takashi mumbled…sorry, kid, gotta do this.

“You’re saying that if I can find the murder weapon and show that it was really you that killed Haruhi, then I win? Do you agree to that, Ryokai?”

“I’m w-willing to b-b-b-bet my li-life on it!” He clenched his fists. “B-b-b-because yo-you’re w-way out of y-y-your le-league, j-j-j-jackass!”

“Your life, huh…? You already did that when you killed her…” I looked down. A long drop.

“A-a-a-asshole! D-d-don’t test me! Wh-where’s you proof?! I want proof! Show m-m-me the p-proof!” It’s pretty obvious what you did…the pieces have already connected, Ryokai…

“Ryokai, would you mind letting me search your room?” A simple question. But the look of his face when I said it was enough to shut him up. “After all, we already talked about how it looked like someone tried to open the bin bag in the storage room. Of course, it was never actually opened, so you didn’t dispose of it that way. You couldn’t have put it in the kitchen’s bin since the cafeteria was now off limits. The garbage disposal doesn’t function at night…which means the only available place left for you, would be your room!”

“N-no…that’s…th-th-that’s….” Ryokai’s legs wobbled a little.

“R-Ryo-chan…” Takashi’s voice cracked. “Pl-please say that you didn’t…”

“Shi-chan…” Ryokai looked away. I hate this feeling in the air, nobody wants to say anything. But…this has to be done, otherwise we’ll all die…

“Ryokai Araki…you killed Haruhi Matsushina.” I said. “That concludes this argument.”

“No…” Takashi fell to his knees. Don’t make this any harder than it already is, really.

“Upupupupu! Looks like this trial has managed to reach a conclusion! Alright then, that means its voting time! In front of you are sixteen buttons, one for each participant in the class trial. You will select who you think the killer, and majority will be the winner! Now I wonder, will you make the right decision…or the dreadfully wrong one?! What’s it gonna be? Who’s it gonna be?!” Monokuma…don’t you dare take pleasure in this.

This is the worst.

When we all cast our votes, a slot machine appeared above Monokuma, it spun the three dials, all of which had out faces on it. Haruhi’s seemed to be the odd one out, being the only one that wasn’t in colour. Eventually though, it slowed down and displayed a triplet of Ryokai’s face. Bouquets of flowers appeared out of the side and the lights on the slot machine lit up.

It was done…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that chapter didn't take long. Which I'm happy about, I just hope I didn't confuse anyone with the long explanation. Since I can't really use the non-stop debate format, I did what I could. How you liked it, and I wonder how many figured it out during the investigation.


	8. Flames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first killer has been found, now the other students are forced to watch as their friend is executed.

We were slowly lowered back to the ground. Honestly, nobody even cared. It was a completely stale atmosphere. But of course, he didn’t care… 

“Upupupu! Would you look at that?! You got it absolutely right! You win, congrats! The one that stabbed and murdered Haruhi Matsushina, it was none other than Ryokai Araki, the Super High School Level Exorcist!” Monokuma cackled. He calls it a win, but it doesn’t feel like we won. Nobody really won anything today.

“Araki-kun…what the hell…?” Mamoru fist clenched on the stand in front of him. “I thought you could have been trusted. I…even divided the group because I thought I could protect those I thought wouldn’t kill anyone…and now this…? I want answers!”

“Nrr…” Ryokai grumbled. “Wh-wh-what did y-you expect me t-to d-d-do?! A-after what…a-a-after Mon-Monokuma’s motive…I c-c-couldn’t s-s-sit by…I h-h-had to kn-know i-if everything w-was o-okay…” Monokuma’s motive…so Ryokai had someone waiting for him, huh…?

“But, was it really worth killing someone over…? I mean, really?” Yumiko asked. “I don’t understand, Araki-kun. You seem so…kind…”

“Of course it was worth killing over. I would do it a thousand times over until I got it right…” He didn’t stutter…what the hell…? Was that just how serious he was about it? “B-b-because…O-Onee-sama…sh-sh-she’s waiting f-for me t-to come h-h-home…d-d-d-do you kn-know how it feels?! N-n-n-not knowing h-h-how y-y-your o-own s-sister is?! I’m tr-trapped in h-here wh-when th-th-that bastard bear! He…h-he’s d-d-done something…”

“…so, we’re the same…” I mumbled, Mamoru glanced at me. “I do know how you feel, Ryokai. I do. I’m in the same boat as you…”

“Even so…that’s no excuse, you hear me?!” Hiroaki roared. “Don’t you realise we’ve all got people we cared about enough to kill for?! But…we can’t sacrifice people for our own needs. Not in this situation…” Even him, huh…? Guess these motives really did hit hard with everyone.

“R-Ryo-chan…” Takashi wobbled a little. “D-d-does that mean…y-you were willing to sacrifice me for this…? I thought we were friends…?”

“F-f-f-friends…? D-don’t be st-stupid…wh-who would w-w-want to be fr-friends w-with s-s-someone l-like y-you? You’re annoying as h-h-hell, and y-you don’t kn-know h-how to t-take a h-hint. Like…g-geez, no wo-wonder you turned to f-fossils…th-they can’t leave you alone if they’re d-dead….” Everyone was silenced in awe. This is the same stuttering mess that we all met a few days ago. “I m-may be the S-Super High School L-Level Exorcist…b-b-but, I’m the bi-biggest demon of all…i-isn’t that ironic…?”

“Bastard…” Hiroaki rushed forward, lifting Ryokai up by the collar of your shirt. “Who the fuck do you think you are?! Saying shit like that to him when you’re probably the worst of us all here!”

“I’m th-the w-worst…? Y-you’re k-k-kidding me, r-r-right…?” Ryokai laughed a little. Though it sounded like a weird hiccup. “Th-there are p-plenty of w-worse people among y-you…I a-asked Monokuma personally about i-information on a-all of y-y-you, and pr-promised I w-would k-kill someone in exchange…th-then he gave us th-the m-m-motives a-and it just f-fuelled m-my cause…”

“What the fuck…? Is that true?!” Hiroaki turned to the bear. Monokuma laughed before standing up.

“Yepperdee! I gave little Ryokai Araki a special deal; if he killed someone, he would learn whatever he wanted to know about all of you! And boy, did he want to know a lot of stuff! I mean…usually, I would decline this sort of stuff…but I made this a special exception, on grounds that I really wanted to see the murders start in this group!” Monokuma explained.

“Monokuma-sama, you really are too cruel.” Motoki sighed. “This is…horrible to watch…I really feel sorry for all of you. It must be painful…”

“What? Would you rather join them, huh?” Monokuma’s claws sharpened. “No, I don’t think you would! So shut it!”

“Th-th-the amount of d-deceit in th-this group…h-how m-mu-much despair w-will all of you f-feel…? I c-can’t wait t-t-to see wh-what I’ve started…” Ryokai grinned.

“Well, it’s a shame that won’t be happening.” Etsuko said calmly. “Unfortunately for you, you messed up…and now you’ve been caught…I hope you remember what that means for you.” The punishment…

“E-execution…” Ayame covered her mouth in realisation. “N-no…y-you can’t seriously…”

“Who care?! This little shit deserves to die!” Hiroaki threw the exorcist to the ground.

“Nobody deserves to die, idiot!” Yumiko scolded. “Not even him. We all deserve to live our lives out…no matter how we are as a person…”

“Oh g-give me a br-br-break…” Ryokai giggled. “Y-y-you expecting some s-sort of sc-scared r-response from m-m-me…? Th-that I’m gonna…b-be afraid of d-d-death…? I ac-accept it…I’ve b-battled d-d-demons before…I’m u-used to th-th-the presence of d-death…I c-can’t wait to j-join the d-d-demons…”

“No, that’s wrong.” I shook my head. “You’re scared…you’re seriously scared right now. You came all this way to find your sister again, and now, you’re scared because you’ll die here. Alone. Just like Haruhi did. But you brought it on yourself…you’ll get no sympathy from me.”

“N-Nagata-kun…” Akiko mumbled. It was cold, but it was the brutal truth. This guy killed someone like Haruhi. I’ll never forgive that…

“Well, as touching as this was! All good things must eventually come to an end, isn’t that right?! We now get to move right along to our main event!” Monokuma announced.

“G-geez…f-f-finally…” Ryokai laughed. It was different this time though. I knew…he was scared of this. “I f-f-finally get e-end it…” But why didn’t he fight back…?

“I’ve prepared a very special punishment for the Super High School Level Exorcist, Ryokai Araki! All right let’s get the ball rolling! It’s PUNISHMENT TIME!!!”

\--

A large red button rose from the ground in front of Monokuma’s throne. The bear pulled out a small gavel and tapped the button down. A large screen behind him switching on.

**_‘RYOKAI ARAKI HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY. COMMENCING EXECUTION’._ **

Monokuma’s throne moved to the side, revealing a large dark hallway behind it. Out of nowhere, a large chain shot out of the darkness, and clung itself to Ryokai’s neck, dragging him off into the dark abyss. The monitor above Monokuma switched on, showing whatever was happening in the room Ryokai was in.

**-Ryokai Araki’s Execution, The True Demon-**

The stage is dark and the murmurs of an ocean of people rustle around the dark room. Ryokai was blind-folded, his arms and legs are tied with thick rope around the arms and legs of the creaky, uncomfortable chair he’s been forced to sit in. There is applause—as loud as a clap of thunder and then silence. A shrill, booming voice exclaims, “Let the exorcism begin!” from an unknown source.

With barely any time to react, the chair unfolds itself; the bottom collapsing and with a few loud clicks Ryokai is left hanging on a cross. The blindfold is ripped away from his eyes and he looked around for some sign of other people.

That same booming voice cries out once again reciting from the bible—the book of Psalms. Ryokai can practically recite the lines word for word along with the reader, having used them time and time again before to expel demons from the innocent. Something small, heavier than dust begins to trickle from above him, a white circle being drawn on the ground around the cross. Salt, he realized.

Ryokai gulped, as he feel something else flowing from the ceiling and wetting his hair and clothes. It was water—presumably holy water.

The voice grows more insistent, reading fervently as flames begin to form at Ryokai’s feet. He cried out in a high pitched laughter as a hatch opens in the ceiling, and a large…Gatling gun is loaded and pointed directly at Ryokai’s feet. It begins shooting in a rapid, quick paced rhythm and soon Ryokai can barely feel the lower half of his body. The last words we heared are “For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.” Ryokai grinned out of amusement like an idiot. The flames crawl up higher and higher and with one last shot, a bullet pierces Kyokai’s skull, ending all of it.

\--

We all stood in silence. Stunned by what we had all just witnessed…we had guessed that the execution would have been gruesome, but…to that extent…? It was ridiculous… “N…no..” Akiko croaked out, falling to her knees. “Th-this…c-can’t be real…”

“Sugiyama-san…” Orochi put a hand on her shoulder. Nobody wanted to move. It was such stagnant air, Takashi was on the floor crying, even before the execution had started. What Ryokai had said just before had really struck a nerve with him. God, this sucks.

“Kyahahahahah!” Monokuma cackled, breaking the atmosphere. “How exciting! That really gets the adrenaline going, don’t you think?!” Bastard bear, who the hell does he think he is? Mamoru had ended up clutching onto the side of my t-shirt, looking pale as hell. Poor guy. He looked like he was about to throw up.

He wasn’t the only one. Chieko was pressed up against Kotone, trying to hide her face. Ayame’s legs were shaking as she were about to crumble under her own weight. Hiroaki’s fists were clenched so hard that they went white. Even Etsuko seemed struck with fear and disgust.

“What…kind of trial is this…?” Fumio slammed his gavel against his stand. “You…you turned this into some show?! Who do you think you are?! Having the audacity to do such a thing?!”

“Numajiri-kun, calm down-“

“How can you say that?! After what you just saw, you want me to calm down?!” Fumio turned to Shin. “He turned a life into a mockery! As if it were meaningless! I refuse to accept this! I refuse!”

“Stop it! Stop that right now!” Yumiko yelled. “You think you’re the only one hurting?! Sure, Ryokai turned out to be a little douchebag in disguise…but that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt us all to see that happen to him!”

“Hashimoto-chan…” Hiroaki mumbled. “It’ll be alright…I mean, come on. Who the hell is gonna take a risk like that after seeing the consequences…?” Was he an idiot…? People will do whatever they can if it leads to their own personal gain. “So…chin up, right…?”

“I-idiot…” Takashi mumbled, getting off the ground. “Y-Yamahata-nii…y-you’re such an idiot!” I cried out, whacking the daredevil with his fists. Of course, they weren’t exactly dealing damage. Hiroaki just stood there though, waiting for Takashi to calm down. “R-Ryo-chan…h-he’s gone! He’s gone forever!” Eventually his movements slowed down, until her just had his hands resting on Hiroaki’s chest. “W-we’re all…g-gonna die…until one of us if l-left standing…”

“No…that won’t happen.” Hiroaki said.

“Y-yes it will! We’re all-“

“I said that’s not gonna happen!” He pulled Takashi into a tight hug. “I won’t let that happen, kid…if it’s needed, I’ll even protect you from any danger that could come your way, understand? I’m not gonna let anything happen to you…” Takashi was still for a few moments before wrapping his arms around Hiroaki and…he just started crying. Yeah…let it all out, kid…

“Yamahata-kun’s like an older brother, isn’t he…?” Robyn said, now to my right. “I think it’s pretty admirable that’s he’s so willing to protect Hayashi-kun, wouldn’t you agree…?”

“Yeah, I guess it is…” Maybe I had Hiroaki wrong this whole time…? Maybe there’s a little more to the guy than just being a hothead. You did good, Hiroaki…you did good.

“Upupupupu…” Monokuma cackled. “Of course you guys would find a way to create a teeny-tiny fragment of hope in this situation! Just like I would expect from the students of Hope’s Peak Academy!”

“Hope’s…Peak…?” Orochi spat. “What the hell are you talking about? Hope’s Peak was run into the ground decades ago! All because of…”

“Kamisaka-kun…?” Etsuko eyes widened as she stepped in front of the decipherer. “Wh-what’s…wrong with your eyes…?”

“I’ll never forgive you for what you did, do you hear me, Monokuma?! Because of you, I have scars that’ll never heal. You want me to play this shitty game of yours…? I’ll show you how the Kamisaka Group plays games like this!”

“Oh really…? I can’t wait to see what you have up your sleeve, Orochi Kamisaka…after all, you can’t lose can you…?” What the hell is that supposed to mean…? Orochi can’t lose…? What’s going on right now? “But, I don’t want spoilers, so I’ll leave you all to your business! Have fun~” And with that, the bear disappeared. Orochi punched down on his stand, not making eye contact with anyone.

“This is not Hope’s Peak…I would never attend Hope’s Peak…they ruined everything…its Hope’s Peak’s fault…” He kept mumbling his hostilities towards the school. But…this was Hope’s Peak Academy, wasn’t it…? Did Orochi hate Hope’s Peak…? I have so many questions, surprisingly. Congrats, you’ve caught my attention once again. You’re quite the enigma, Orochi.

“We should go…” Ayame broke the stale mood. “I…don’t want to stay here any longer…it’s the worst here.” Takashi backed up and dried his eyes. Giving a still slightly sorrowed smile he walked over to the elevator.

“Ichimonji-chan is right. Staying here won’t do us any good. So…we gotta keep moving forward.” He turned to the rest of us. “…right…? It’s what Matsushina-chan would have wanted.”

“Absolutely.” Etsuko nodded. “Well said, Hayashi-kun.”

\--

**==Third Person POV==**

Akiko squatted by the boxes in the storage room, she was dressed in her nightwear, which was just a simple black nightgown. She was shifting through the boxes of food, something sweet to take her mind of the recent events. Anything was worth a try at this point.

“Ah! Here we are!” She pulled a pack out of one of the boxes. “They really do have tea cakes here! How perfect can this room get?!” In here excitement, she didn’t even notice when a hand reached over and snatched the bag out of her hand. “H-hey! What the hell?!” She turned to find Hiroaki towering over her, dangling the bag of tea cakes above her like a lure for a fish.

“You know stuff like this is gonna just make you fat, right?” He grinned. “Didn’t know you liked stuff like this, Sugiyama-chan.” Her face flushed; not just for the ‘chan’ honorific, but because he was teasing her about her food choices.

“A-as if you should care! What are you doing here anyway, Yamahata-kun…? And…give me those back!” She jumped up to snatch the bag back, but Hiroaki just raised his arm higher. “No fair! You can’t use your height against me!”

“It’s not that I’m incredibly tall, it’s that you’re insanely short.” Hiroaki joked. Akiko pouted at that comment. “What? C’mon, I’m only kidding around.”

“Well, maybe I’d prefer it if you didn’t…? And you didn’t answer my question.”

“Why am I here? Same exact reason as you actually. Thanks for digging these out for me, saved me a whole lot of trouble.” It baffled Akiko that he could act so laid back considering what they all just went through.

“Well…why aren’t you dressed for bed…? It’s way past the night-time announcement.” She continued her questioning. She was slightly sceptical of Hiroaki, not for any particular reason, she just couldn’t trust someone that acted the way he did in front of Yumiko.

“I was dressed for bed, but then I got hungry. And there was no way I was risking anyone seeing me in what I sleep in…” He scratched the back of his head. That could only be taken in few ways. He wears embarrassing pyjamas, he sleeps in his underwear, or…no, the last option was too much for Akiko to even think of. “Anyway, didn’t think you would want stuff like this. Didn’t think they would have this here either. Guess I lucked out, huh?”

“I think you mean _I_ lucked out, you just decided to come in and snatch them away from me. And, if you must know, I ended up eating a lot of them when I visited England as a child, when I just started selling my songs.” She explained. “What’s your excuse?”

“Mom’s British.” He shrugged. “Never noticed I had a little hint of their accent when I speak?”

“Not really, I just figured you were from some remote part of Japan. Whatever, you can have those. I’m sure that there’s more in here.” She twisted her violet hair around her index finger as she started looking around the box once again. Hiroaki stood back for a moment, unsure what to say. He knew about the rumours with Akiko, how bad her temper was…he just wanted to test it. Nothing. Maybe she could be given the benefit of the doubt…?

“Hey.” He threw the bag in front of the box, by Akiko’s feet. “I changed my mind. I’m not really feeling up to eating right now. So…they’re yours. Enjoy, I guess.” He waved as he turned and headed off.

Akiko stared at the bag of tea cakes and then back at the door just before it was about to shut. “Maybe you’re nicer than people have given you credit for…?” She smiled warmly as she picked up the bag and headed back to her room.

\--

“So…why did you gather us here…?” Shin asked. Kotone sitting at his side with Fumio and Chieko standing over them. They had been brought to the bathhouse changing room, presumably for privacy. “I hope this important. I’m exhausted, Numajiri-kun, and would just like to sleep right now.”

“I promise you this will only take a moment.” Fumio assured. “Arishina-san and I…we just wanted to apologise…for everything.”

“Apologise? What for?” Kotone raised an eyebrow at this.

“What do you mean ‘what for’?” Chieko half-cried out. “Numajiri-kun and I…w-we were too scared by Fukao-kun’s rage…w-we abandoned our own friends when they were being thrown out of the group, when we should have stood up for you instead. O-Okuda-chan…I’m r-r-really sorry! It was unforgivable! Unforgivable!” She got on her hands and knees, and put herself into a begging position.

“I’m the same. Tamuro-kun, we may have only met some days ago, but I truly feel like you’re my friend. Then Fukao-kun…the point is, I’m also incredibly sorry for what I did to you!” Fumio then mimicked Chieko, and was now begging for Shin’s forgiveness. Kotone and Shin gave each other slightly distressed looks.

“…head up, Numajiri-kun.” Shin said, softly. “I don’t blame you for what happened. What you did was justified, in my eyes. I wouldn’t have wanted to be alienated from a group that had accepted me either. But…the past is in the past. Worrying about it will only damage our relationship further. So…don’t give it a second thought.”

“Ari-chan…” Kotone crouched down to the shrine maiden’s level, a big grin plastered onto her face. “You…are just the cutest, you know that?!” She wrapped her arms around the shorter girl. “That settles it, when we get out of this, you and I are totally going on a date, no backing out! Think of it as repayment, alright?!”

“D-d-date?!” Chieko flushed. Shin and Fumio laughed a little at the scene. Even if there were despairing events happening, at least they could rely on each other for some form of hope…

\--

**==Sora’s POV==**

Now what am I expected to do…? Fall asleep…? Just like that? After what we just went through? He’s gotta be kidding me. Nobody is gonna be able to get to sleep after all of that. Also, how did all that take the entire day…? It didn’t feel like it did. And yet, about 10 minutes after we left the trial room, Monokuma made the night-time announcement.

It’s…kinda lonely here, when you think about it. I feel sorry for Haruhi, and even Ryokai. Having to meet their fate in a place like this…am I lucky that I have-

There was a knock at the door. Interrupt my thoughts, why don’t you? I got up and opened the door…it was…Mamoru…why? He had this look of slight discomfort on his face. Not that it was unjustified or anything. But…even at that. It was different, but I don’t know how.

“Uh…hey…?” I said. “This is unexpected. Did you need something…?”

“Sora, I…uh…” He mumbled awkwardly. Heh…like Mamoru of old. Always stayed true to himself. “I just…nrgh!” He lunged forward, and suddenly I was forced into an embrace. What the hell was this…? “I…I’m sorry for everything, Sora…r-really…I didn’t want any of this to happen…it’s all my fault.”

“Don’t…worry about it…?” I wasn’t really sure what I was expected to do. I wasn’t good in situations like this. He was clutching the back of my shirt, he was gonna wrinkle at this rate, how joyous. “Uh…do you want to come in or something…?” He didn’t look up or break away, but I could feel his head move against my shoulder to signify a yes.

We moved inside, and I closed the door behind me. Mamoru moving to sit on my bed. “So, what’s all this about, huh…? You coming here unannounced.”

“The trial, it made me realise that I was being stupid. Like…really stupid, and, as much as I hate saying it, you were right.” Wait, what? “I never should have divided the group like that, it led to so much distrust between everyone. I should have just built trust with everyone rather than just doubting them like that…”

“Because Ryokai turned out like that…?” I asked, to which Mamoru gave a small nod. “Well, it’s not like you’re entirely in the wrong. You had reasons for doubting certain people, and that’s not an entirely bad thing. You just…dealt with it in a bad way, is all. You shouldn’t beat yourself up about it. Seriously, you’ll just give me a headache if you act like that.”

“You’re insensitive no matter what the situation is, aren’t you?”

“See? That’s the attitude I’m used to!” I grinned. Mamoru rolled his eyes, laying back on my bed. I moved to sit next to him. “Was there something else…?” Mamoru closed his eyes for a few seconds in thought.

“Were you tempted…?” He simply asked. “I mean, by your motive…did you ever think of killing someone to escape…?” Where was this coming from?

“…no. And that’s in all honesty. The thought never crossed my mind. I don’t really think I have the energy to do something like that…well…that, and it would mean I’d have to sacrifice you in the process. To leave, you would have to die. I wouldn’t do that. Never.”

“What if you had the opportunity to save someone from execution though…?” He was getting deep with this. What the hell? “If you had the chance to save someone from execution, do you think you could have done it.”

“Still no. That would mean sacrificing everyone else. It’s not worth it. Our lives don’t outweigh those other 12 that are still here with us…that’s something you’d say, isn’t it…?” I looked at him. He was looking sleepy. Hey now, don’t you fall asleep on me. These are answers you wanted.

“Your motive…it was Umeko, wasn’t it…?” Huh? “She’s the person closest to you. It would be weird if she wasn’t your motive. Don’t worry about it, she ended up being mine as well…seems Monokuma really did his research, eh? Giving us who we were closest to as our motive.” No…that’s not true. Umeko isn’t who I’m closest to, idiot.

“I guess so, yeah…” I mumbled back. There was a silence for a few minutes. “…hey, Mamoru…?” I turned back to find the assistant had ended up falling asleep. Seriously? I thought I was the lazy one. Then again, from his expression back in the trial room, it’s clear that today’s been exhausting for him…

I want to wake him up, but…at the same time, I know I shouldn’t. I guess the rules only state we have to sleep in the rooms, not just our assigned ones…maybe if I go to sleep in his room instead…?

==Sora’s Mind==

“You…did… **what**?!”

==

Uh…maybe not the best idea. But else am I-…he…put his hand on mind…he’s asleep, he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Right? Well, I guess this is an easier method than the alternative. I can just explain stuff in the morning, that’ll probably work…hopefully.

I laid down on my bed, now next to Mamoru. Well…this is awkward…never realise how small a bed actually is sometimes, do you? Heh…whatever. Tomorrow’s another day, I need to get as much rest as possible, otherwise I’ll just be a mess in the morning. Just gotta…fall asleep.

Yeah…

Night, Mamoru…

Heh…maybe I am lucky that I’m here with someone I know…


	9. Above

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the first trial over, the students have gotten access to a 'new world' as Monokuma puts it. Though what they find is more than they were expecting.

I rolled out of bed a little before the Monokuma announcement was to be played. Mamoru was still sound asleep on my bed, luckily it was a peaceful night. I’ll probably just tell him I slept on the floor or something so he doesn’t feel awkward about it or something like that. I have to wait a little bit though, since it is still technically ‘night-time’, the water isn’t on. Urgh, what a pain in the ass. Why do I have to wait before taking a damn shower? Kind of a dumb rule if you ask me.

The school bell sounded throughout the room. Finally! Took long enough. “Good morning bastards! Its 7am, therefore, night-time is officially over! Let’s make today another great day! Also, I have a special surprise for all of you. I’ll see you later when your new world is discovered!”

New world…? What the heck did that mean? This wasn’t gonna be another one of his weird vague riddles, was it? I don’t have the effort to figure out what he meant. I heard a small groan as Mamoru shifted, gently waking up from his sleep, rubbing his eyes. How cute. 

It took a minute for him to process his surroundings, but I don’t think anyone go red as fast as he did when he realised the situation he was in. “S…Sora…? What the hell happened last night…? Why am I in your room…?”

“You conked out last night. Didn’t have the effort to move you to your room. Didn’t have the heart to wake you up. Didn’t have the courage to sleep in your room. So, I left you like that. Slept on the floor.” I lied, obviously, but Mamoru would freak out if he found out that he slept in the same bed as me.

“A-ah…I see. That makes sense…” He let out a sigh, regaining his composure. “For a second there, I thought that you and I…ah, what am I thinking? That would never happen.” He laughed to himself. It was a slightly awkward laugh though. Not majorly, but it was still slightly different than a regular laugh…then again, Mamoru never laughs, maybe that’s just his normal laugh…? Weirdo.

But of course, I am a douche, which I feel we’ve established by now. I have to have my fun with him. “Of course, with the way you’re talking about it, I don’t think you’re entirely against the idea, are you…Moru-chan…?” He was still and silent…did I break him…?

Quicker than a flash, he grabbed the nearby pillow and hurdled it at me. It smacked me on the back of my head, knocking me off balance. “I-Idiot!!!” He bellowed at me. Only he could make a pillow hurt someone. That’s one hell of an arm he’s got, I’ll give him that. “A-as if anyone would ever want to get in the same bed as you! Dream on!” He says that, but his stuttering means he’s open to anything. I can read him way too easily.

“Yeah, alright, I get it…but shouldn’t you be off getting ready? Might wanna be careful. Who knows what the others might think if they see you leave my room this early in the morning.” I grinned. I was so evil, I love it. Maybe that’s why he’s always getting pissed at me…? Nah…

“I’ll see you later then. I expect you to not be the last one there, understand?” He glared at me one last time. I just nodded, and he left the room.

“Fukao-chan, were you in Nagata-chan’s room just now?! At this hour?!” I heard Takashi’s surprised voice right before the door closed, grinning to myself, I got up and tossed the pillow back on the bed. Time to finally have my shower.

\--

When I entered the cafeteria, only about eight people were there. Robyn, Ayame, Orochi, Takashi, Yumiko, Chieko, Hiroaki, and obviously Mamoru had to make it here before me. He always finds a way to beat me. “Morning, everyone…” I greeted lazily.

“Oh! Nagata-chan! I need to know something super, super important!” Takashi ran up to me. “What was Fukao-chan doing in your room so early in the morning, huh?! That was unbelievably early for someone to be visiting!” I glanced over at Mamoru, who just had this pleading look. It was weird to see him like this…should I be nice? Just this once?

“Ah, Mamoru woke up early, is all. He wanted to make sure I was up and actually going to be here on time. Y’know how he is.” I shrugged. Well…it’s believable, right…? It’s something he would do.

“That wouldn’t be reason enough for him to actually go into your room though. So, that’s a complete lie.” Yumiko folded her arms. Okay, but why do you care exactly? Yesterday, you couldn’t stand the sight of me. Which, by the way, expecting an apology, written or verbal. Whatever works for you.

“Oh my god!” Robyn’s eyes lit up. “Don’t tell me…you and Fukao-kun shared a bed last night?!” 

“H-Hutchison-san, you have a strange look in your eye…” Ayame frowned. Dear lord, this girl was relentless. How badly did she want us together?

“That image…I can’t think of anything else…I want to draw it, a-ah! But who would be what?! Just how domin-“

“W-we are not here to discuss that!” Mamoru interrupted. “So stop that! If…if you must know…yes, I did sleep in Sora’s bed last night…but only because I fell asleep when I went to visit him last night. Sora didn’t even sleep in the bed. He slept on the floor.”

“Seriously?” Hiroaki raised an eyebrow. “I don’t see the issue. Sounds like you’re just making a big deal out of nothing, man.”

“What…? Have many guys have you been in bed with, huh…?” Robyn grinned. Dear. Lord.

“I don’t think he meant it like that…” Orochi chuckled. “Plus, even if he did, wouldn’t that be a little personal to ask someone?”

“Hmm…” Robyn puffed her cheeks out. “…how muscly are you, Kamisaka-kun?”

“Robyn.” I said. “Stop.”

“I can’t help it, alright?! If I don’t draw a guy after a few days, I start having withdrawal symptoms! Plus, with all the stress I’ve been under lately, that process has just been sped up! Ugh, this sucks!” Robyn slammed her head on the table. Alongside that sound of her head colliding with solid wood, the door behind me open, and in walked Fumio and Shin.

“Good day, everyone.” Shin greeted. Suddenly, before anyone realised it, Robyn had practically teleported in front of the spy. “Um…yes, Hutchison-san…? Did you need something?” Without a response, Robyn grabbed the front of Shin’s dress-shirt and lifted it up. He seemed unusually indifferent to the action. You’d think a spy’s reflexes would have reacted or something.

Now…you know when I said that with Mamoru, that I’d never seen anyone’s face go so red that fast? Yeah, that record didn’t last long. Robyn’s face went red so quick, that her glasses started to fog up instantly. “This…treasure was being kept from me this whole time…?” Robyn let go of Shin’s shirt and stepped back, a powerful aura now surrounding her.

She giggled, with an evil looking grin on her face, pushing her glasses up. “Tamuro-kun…you seem to have escaped my gaze until now…but now that I’ve seen your hidden treasure, I can’t allow you to not be my next model for my picture.”

“No thank you.” Shin simply replied, walking past her, as if none of that happened just now. “I’d rather not get nude for a simple portrait, I’m sorry to tell you that.”

“What?!” Robyn turned. “It’s not just a ‘simple portrait’! This is a drawing from the Super High School Level Nudes Artist! You should be honoured, you ungrateful rat!” You know, I deal with a lot of shit that comes from this group…but Robyn…? She’s a completely different level compared to everyone else.

“I’m not a rat, I’d just rather keep my clothes on, as I already stated. It’s nothing against your work.” The spy insisted. “Anyway, where are the others? Have they really not arrived yet?”

“Well, clearly not.” Yumiko rolled her eyes. “I would have expected Hanabusa-san to have arrived sooner though. She’s not the type to arrive late…”

“Yeah…” As if by magic, here was the choreographer herself, walking through the door. It’s almost like her arrival was relevant to the plot. “Sorry about that, I lose track of time when I’m in the shower…so, here I am.” She was a lot slower in the mornings, I just noticed. Interesting. Afterwards, one-by-one, the rest of the students arrived until everyone was finally present.

“Well, it’s good that everyone’s present now. It means Monokuma will show up soon, right…?” Ayame smiled. “I wonder what he meant by ‘a new world’. Do you think it could be some prize for winning the trial?”

“Nobody really won that trial though, did they?” Kotone folded her arms behind her head. “When you really get down to it. We had to sentence someone to death. Is that really winning at all...?” Isn’t that what I said, like, last chapter? Keep up.

“Y-yeah, I mean…I guess you’re right about that…” The gardener sighed. “…do you think Ryokai hates us for what we did…?” It was a good question. I mean, he probably does, did she forget the stuff that Ryokai said to Takashi right before he was executed? That was so brutal, I can’t even believe that stuttering mess of an exorcist could actually take a life.

“Ryo-chan…he doesn’t hate us.” Takashi determined. “I’m sure of that! Everything he said before he died…it must have been so we wouldn’t miss him! That’s just the type of guy that he was…y-y’know…? W-who would miss someone that c-could say all those mean things…t-to me…? R-right…?”

“Hayashi-chan…” Hiroaki sighed his name. The daredevil closed his eyes for a second, before giving a soft smile. “Yeah…I’m sure that’s it.”

“By the way, I don’t think Monokuma’s gonna be coming to see us.” Etsuko folded her arms. “He said he would only meet us when our ‘new world is discovered’. So, we’re probably gonna have to go look for it ourselves.”

“Aw, really…?” I let my head fall onto the table in front of me. “But, like…do we really need to…?”

“You mean do you need to.” Mamoru corrected. Okay, but did I ask? “Come now, Sora. Even you know when it’s necessary to put in effort. Even you aren’t 100% lazy towards all activity.”

“Come on, Nagata-kun. You should listen to your _boyfriend_ , honestly you must cause him so much stress.” Robyn winked. I like how she’s jumped on the bang-wagon.

“Yes, he does…a-and we are not dating!” Mamoru half-growled. 

“They’ll kiss before all this is over, I’m calling it now.” Hiroaki mumbled to Akiko. “I bet 10,000 yen.”

“Oh you’re on.” Akiko grinned. They weren’t be very subtle about this. “Though, I suppose we’re getting side-tracked. If we’re really left to find this ‘new world’ on our own, then we should head off now.” Did nobody realise it yet?

“It’s obviously the staircase next to the storage room…” I said. “I mean, it’s kinda the only place Monokuma can unlock for us. Really, kinda disappointing nobody mentioned it…” It was silent for a few seconds. What? Did nobody realise? Really? “Whatever, let’s go…”

\--

Eventually we all gathered at the staircase by the storage room. “Wow, it’s just like Nagata-chan said!” Takashi stepped forward. “This is so cool! Maybe there’s an exit we can use?”

“Only one way to find out, right?” Kotone rushed up the stairs before anyone could react.

“A-ah! Okuda-chan! Wait for us!” Chieko rushed after the bounty hunter. We all made our way up the stairs, it was one hell of a long walk up these stairs, just how far up is this place…?

“Huh…?” Was all I heard, bumping into the crowd in front of me. That’s what I get for not paying attention, I guess. I tried my best to look over everyone, all I could see was a door…with light coming through. A way outside? Was it that easy…? “This…can’t be right…” That was Kotone’s voice.

Everyone slowly moved forward, and soon I got exactly what everyone was so taken aback by. Emerging from the door, I was greeted by…a school ground, I figured. A campus. Sunlight was barely shining down from the dark cover of the black clouds above, as if it was going to rain at any minute. Where the fence for the school should have been, was a large wall. Way too high for anyone to ever dream of climbing.

I turned back, and behind the building we just came out of…were four other buildings. This…couldn’t be right…three of them looked to be in perfect shape, the fourth one looked like it was been completely wrecked, as if a bomb had went off inside it. “What…the hell is this…?” Etsuko shook. “What happened…? This…this isn’t Hope’s Peak Academy…!”

“Upupupupu!” We all turned to find Monokuma standing atop the small building, though it was more like the entrance to a shelter, that we just emerged from, lying on his side. “That’s an interesting statement, Etsuko Hanabusa! I don’t ever remember saying that you guys were all in Hope’s Peak Academy!”

“Of course we aren’t…” I could vaguely here Orochi say behind me. Just…what the hell is all this…?

“Well then, 79th class! Welcome to the new Hope’s Peak Academy, sorry it’s in such shambles, didn’t have much time to clean up after all!” He let out another cackle.

Just…what was going on…?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this is such a short chapter, I needed a good place to end it, and that seemed like the best point. I hope everyone is still enjoying this as well.


	10. Walls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the discovery of what's outside the small space they were cramped into, the group now finally have to opportunity to find some answers about what's going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good lord, this chapter took a lot longer than I wanted it to! So sorry about the wait, I really am.
> 
> But, look on the bright side, the next few chapters should be much easier to write than this one! Then again...I have school starting back...oh well! I'll update as soon as I can, so please be patient!

“Monokuma, I want answers!” Etsuko pointed at the bear. “Where the hell are we?! Where the hell is Hope’s Peak Academy?!”

“Hmm…I mean, I guess you could say you’re still at Hope’s Peak Academy, but that the same time, you aren’t…” Monokuma sat up, rubbing behind his left ear. “It’s a long, boring, complicated story, but maybe you’ll find the answers soon!”

“Bastard, you did something didn’t you…?” Hiroaki clenched his fists. “You did something to the real Hope’s Peak, didn’t you…?” Before Monokuma answered, Orochi turned away and started to walk off. “Eh…? Hey, where the hell do y-“ Hiroaki reached out to grab the decipherer by the shoulder, only to have his arm caught by Orochi.

There was a dark aura in the group for a moment before he turned around with that same smile on his face. “Sorry about that, Yamahata-kun. I don’t really like being touched, it’s just a reflex.” He let go of daredevil’s arm. “But, we shouldn’t really be listening to what Monokuma says, right? All we can do for now is investigate what’s available to us.” Now that I think about it, Orochi was acting weird after the class trial. Like he had a real resentment towards Hope’s Peak…I wonder why…?

“Kamisaka-kun is right.” Shin agreed. “We won’t accomplish much by standing around talking to the bear. For now, let’s just pair up and begin searching around. Agreed?” Before anyone reacted, Robyn had linked arms with the spy. “Hmm? Hutchison-san?”

“I’ll be taking this opportunity to convince you to let me draw you, naturally! And there’s no way you’re investigating with anyone else, understand?” Robyn grinned evilly. I’ll give her an award for her persistence. Shin let out a sigh, pinching the upper part of his nose. “I’ll take that as a yes! Let’s go, Tamuro-kun!” And with that, she was dragging the apprehensive boy away.

“Why don’t you go investigate with Fumio…?” I mumbled to Mamoru. “I’m sure he’d be a good start if you want to start building relationships with other students…”

“The Super High School Level Judge…I see your point for once. Alright then, Numajiri-kun!” Mamoru walked over to the boy who was adjusting his robes. “I’d like to investigate with you, if that doesn’t bother you.” Fumio twirled the gavel in his hand, a smirk present on his expression.

“Well, I suppose you won’t slow me down. Very well then, shall we?” The two nodded to each other and walked off, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Akiko and Yumiko walking away as well. An odd pair, I suppose.

“Yamahata-nii! Let’s go investigate together this time!” Takashi bounced over to the daredevil. “I bet we’ll find the best escape route ever, don’t you think?!” Hiroaki ruffled the shorter boy’s hair and smirked.

“Sure, kid. Let’s race to that fucked up building! There’s gotta be something good in there!” Hiroaki pointed and the two were off. Etsuko had already left with Orochi. Kotone and Chieko went off to investigate together…which left-

“I suppose you and I should pair up this time, Nagata-kun.” Ayame smiled, pushing her silver hair behind her ear. The gardener hadn’t really stood out much thus far, so this should be a treat. Hopefully she isn’t some secretly huge bitch. “Wow, that’s really mean, Nagata-kun.” She puffed her cheeks out. “Saying such means things about a girl…”

“Eh…? Can you read my thoughts or something…?”

“I’m just really good at reading people, nothing supernatural.” She smiled, stepping in front of me. “It was all in your expression. I could tell you were having unpleasant thoughts about me.” Hmph. Okay, surprised me. I like that. “I like that about me as well.” She giggled.

“Wow, you are good…” I said. “Alright. Where do you want to start?”

“Let’s see…” Her eyes scanned around the school grounds. “Let’s check around the wall. There has to be a door somewhere, right?”

“Yeah, fair point.” I nodded. “Lead the way, I guess…”

\--

Ayame seemed to always walk with that cheerful spring in her step, she’s rather carefree. I have to admire that kind of thing in this situation. “Aw, you’re sweet.” She smiled, turning back to me.

“You need to stop doing that…” I mumbled. The gardener shrugged and continued to walk ahead of me, her hands clasped behind her. It was like she was the character out of a cheesy shoujo anime. The guy sees her in some meadow, the wind gently blowing back her hair and dress. Of course, the difference is that there isn’t exactly going to be a noticeable breeze with the huge wall in the way.

“Oh…look, it’s Okuda-san and Arishima-san.” Ayame pointed forward to the pair that were standing still, staring at a portion of the wall. “They seem…disgruntled…” We continued to walk over until Chieko glanced over to us, letting Kotone know that we were approaching.

“Ah! Ichimonji-san! Nagata-kun!” Kotone greeted, it was an upbeat tone though her facial expression remained rather solemn. “Guess you guys had the same idea as us, huh? Ari-chan thought we might find a way out if we searched along the wall…and…”

We all turned back to the wall. In the large stone, a huge metal door with various complicated looking contraptions and locks was set up in front of us. “A-at least we’ve discovered how to g-get out of here…” Chieko mumbled. “Though, it doesn’t look like we’re going to be able to use it.”

“Not only that, Monokuma showed up and said the wall ends about 20 feet underground and is 5 foot thick. No way are we gonna be able to dig under this thing.” Kotone sighed. “I don’t even think Hayashi-kun could dig his way under, and that’s saying something.” True, if the Super High School Level Archaeologist couldn’t dig his way through, then there would be no point.

“Not like it matters if there are no shovels to dig with in the first place.” Ayame sighed a little. “No worries though! We’ll just have to find another way out! Maybe there’s a secret way to open up the door! Kamisaka-kun is the Super High School Level Decipherer, maybe he could think of something.”

“I’m pretty sure that talent refers to codes and stuff like that. Though, it makes you wonder how a guy like that even got discovered for something like that.” Kotone folded her arms. “I mean, don’t you guys think that Kamisaka-kun is kinda suspicious? He totally flips every time someone mentions Hope’s Peak, and…not to mention how he acted back there. Trying to go off on his own, and how he lashed out at Yamahata-kun.”

“To be fair, I don’t think I would want ugly jumpsuit to touch me either…” I mumbled. Kotone let out a giggle in response, Ayame kind of gave this annoyed look. Geez, she just doesn’t like the discourse, does she?

“I-Ichimonji-san, I think there’s a garden over at the building.” Chieko pointed to the nearest building on the school grounds. “A-around the other side…something looked like a greenhouse…”

“Really? That’s great! I haven’t gotten a chance to garden since we got here!” Ayame smiled widely. “Nagata-kun, you don’t mind if we check it out, do you?”

“Hmm? Well…I guess not. Though, I think I’d want to look at the door first. It’s a little more important don’t you think?” I rubbed the back of my neck. Ayame puffed out her cheeks a little before giving in. What kind of a kid are you…?

I walked up to the huge door, inspecting the small details of it. Who the heck could build something so complicated…? They had to be some kind of Super High School Level student if they did this. I wonder if it has something to do with what Monokuma said about this being the ‘New Hope’s Peak’? No point in thinking about that right now, I guess. Not much information to think about.

There were indentations on the door here and there. Almost as if someone had been pounding on it. But to pound on it so hard that it causes dents? Just who could have that kind of strength? I mean, this door must be as wide as the wall, so unless the door is hollow, making a dent in it would take the strength of a super-human…

Even at that…there’s not much on thi-…what’s this…?

There’s a small blood stain on the door. Almost unnoticeable…I wonder if someone died here, and someone else wiped away the blood. Was it possible that there were others here…? No, we would have seen them by now. Was there people here previously? That seemed like the likely explanation, but if a murder happened at Hope’s Peak, then shouldn’t we have heard about it?

No, because it seems to have happened after this wall was constructed, and this wall couldn’t exactly be hidden by anyone. So…what’s happened…? Where did this wall come from? I mean, we only arrived at ‘Hope’s Peak’ a few days ago. Right? Tch!

I put a hand at my forehead. I was starting to give myself a migraine. I hate having to think about things for a long time. It starts to piss me off when I can’t figure stuff out. Ayame walked over and put a hand on my shoulder, concern on her face. “Nagata-kun, don’t push yourself. You almost did that in the class trial, remember?”

“…right…” I nodded. “I don’t really think I’m gonna learn a lot from this door anyway, not right now anyway. Let’s go check out the garden, alright?” Her eyes lit up as she linked arms with me, dragging me away from Kotone and Chieko. Geez, this girl was too cheerful to be in this situation.

\--

“Wow, look at this place!” Ayame gawked at the large garden at the side of the building. Rows and rows of different types of flowers, vegetables, and fruits were flourishing in this small space, the greenhouse was little further along, and up against the building was what seemed to be a storage shed. It was pretty big as well, there was a window above it you could probably use to step out onto the roof of it.

“Oi! Ayame! I’m gonna take a look in the shed, alright? You have fun.” I announced.

“Alright, I’ll wait out here! Ayame waved back without looking to me. For all she knew I could be walking away. She’s way too trusting of others. Maybe that’s why Robyn seems to be friends with her? She does always look for people to be friends with.

Upon entering the shed…it was a bit underwhelming, to be honest. Just what you could expect. Shelves fully supplied with gardening tools and bags of seeds, mulch, everything Ayame needs for when she inevitably starts to tend to the garden.

“Geez…I thought I was gonna find at least something useful…” I murmured. I started moving the items on the shelves around, hoping to find something, anything, even if it’s a hole to the outside, anything that will make this place seem a little worthwhile. Mulch. Mulch. Mulch. Photo. Mulch. Mulch.

……wait.

I reached into the back of the shelf and pulled out the photo…but, it didn’t seem real. In the photo was Haruhi, myself, and Ryokai. Haruhi and Ryokai both seemed to be getting along well, they were talking to each other with bright expressions on their face, probably about the supernatural or something. I was barely in the shot, but I could tell it was me from the hair. It’s not exactly a common style.

Though…we were in a classroom, it seemed. It was bright and sunny outside, and we were wearing what seemed to be the Hope’s Peak Academy uniforms. The brown blazer was what gave it away, but Ryokai was still wearing his beanie and Haruhi still had her broach on. But…I don’t remember anything like this ever happening. When was this picture taken? Did...we-

“Ah! Sora!” Shoving the photo into my pocket, I turned to find Orochi standing at the entrance of the shed. “Good to see you here. Find anything interesting when looking around?”

“O-oh, uh…no. Not really.” I was in a picture with two dead people, but that’s too suspicious to tell anyone about. Maybe I can talk to Mamoru about it later…? “Where’s Etsuko…?”

“Outside, talking with Ichimonji-chan. Man, you really do use first names for everyone, don’t you?” He grinned. “Doesn’t it ever annoy people when you use their first names after just meeting them? With no honorifics, at that.”

“Yeah, it does, but I don’t see the point. Formalities are a pain anyway, so I don’t bother.” I explained. “I’m lazy, I can’t help it.”

“I suppose you can’t change yourself so easily, huh…? Hanabusa-chan and I went to check out the other buildings, but it looks like they’re locked. Hopefully we’ll have some luck with this one.” Orochi smiled.

“You know, you aren’t like how I was expecting.” That comment…was probably a little weird. I can tell by the expression on his face. “I mean…the way you dress makes you look like some punk with a super bad reputation, but when you talk to people you’re so friendly and polite. It’s pretty surprising.”

“You…you think so…?” He scratched his cheek with his index finger, blushing lightly. Apparently easy to embarrass as well. “I suppose I might come off that way, yeah. I can’t help it though, it’s just who I am…you certainly live up to your appearance. You slouch all the time, and, no offence, but the way to carry yourself makes you easy to read. So it’s not hard to figure out you’re a little…sluggish, compared to everyone else.”

“Am I really that transparent?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Though, you’re mental abilities are incredible, I have to say. I was really impressed with your performance in the class trial…though you seemed pretty prone to getting headaches, what’s with that?” Oh. That.

“When I think about stuff too much, my head starts to hurt. It’s always been like that. It’s how I know I don’t have all the pieces to the puzzle though. If I have all the necessary pieces, then completing the picture is child’s play.” I said. He sure was interested in talking with me. Orochi let out a little laugh.

“I see! I see! As expected of the Super High School Level Riddle Solver. Wow…that’s a mouthful…” Yeah, you know what else would be a mouthful? Your- “I suppose it’s better than Super High School Level Decipherer.”

“I wanted to ask what that whole thing was about. It’s a little vague for a talent.”

“Hah! I know, right…? But I simply decipher stuff. Codes, messages, stuff like that. I’ve always been good at it, but I never thought that it would be a Super High School Level talent, you know? It seems kind of…easily replaceable.” Not a lot of confidence in his own talent, huh?

“Not really. I could never do that. Not the same as riddles. Codes and shit aren’t really my thing, so I’ll leave that to you…” Is that how you cheer people up? I don’t do this very often. Whatever, he smiled at it anyway. “Anyway…I suppose I’d better get back to investigating, huh…?” I moved towards the doorway, though before I realised it I had ended up falling forward after I felt my balance get disrupted.

Orochi moved forward to catch me, ending up with my head hitting his chest. “Whoa…easy there.” He grinned. I paused for a moment before standing up properly. “Those bags of mulch are everywhere. Like, how many does one person need? Try to be a little more careful next time, alright? Would be bad if you got hurt whilst we were here.”

“You…you worry about me too much. I’ll be fine.” I shuffled past him to get out of the shed. “Leave it to Mamoru to worry about me.”

“He dotes on you quite a lot, doesn’t he?” He chuckled.

“That would imply that he likes me to a large extent.” I mumbled. “You’ve seen how he is to me, right?”

“Well, you two shared a bed last night, didn’t you…?” I turned back to face him. How did he…? “Oh, of course you lied to everyone else about that. I could tell from the looks on your face and Fukao-kun’s face. You give it away far too easily.”

“What, is everyone an esper now? First Ayame can read minds and now you’re like a human lie detector.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “Whatever, just don’t let Mamoru know. He’ll probably end up killing me…”

“Of course. You have my word.” Orochi smiled. “I suppose I’ll let you get back to your investigation. Hanabusa-chan! Shall we head off?!” The decipherer called the choreographer over. Etsuko turned to look at us. She said her goodbyes to Ayame and headed off with Orochi. She didn’t throw a glance my way. What a bitch.

I walked over to Ayame who was crouched down by two small crosses made out of branches, both had a white ribbon holding the sticks together. Were these…? “Graves for Araki-kun and Matsushina-san.” Ayame explained, standing up. “I thought it would good of us to honour the memory of the two. To think…they could have actually died in a place like this. It’s horrible.”

I looked down at the small graves. Ayame was so…sympathetic. It was almost unnatural. “Anyway!” She moved to the direction of the building. “We’ve spent enough time here, don’t you think? Let’s head off and get back to the investigation. There can’t be much left.” How admirably optimistic.

I wanna hurl.

\--

“Not…what I was expecting.” I mumbled as we stepped into the building. We found the room to be like a grand hall…like, you know that one in Titanic, with the huge staircase? Yeah, like that one. There was a balcony running around the perimeter of the upper floor, I never expected it to look like this on the inside.

“It’s breath-taking, don’t you think…?” The familiar voice of Akiko came from the right. She and Yumiko walked over to us, a smile had grown slightly on the former’s face. “Hashimoto-san and I were just looking around. This is less of an academic building and more like a performing arts building.”

“Probably what it was built for.” Yumiko folded her arms. “You should see some of the rooms here. A dance studio, a recording studio. A theatre. It’s marvellous. Exactly what you’d expect from a place like Hope’s Peak.”

“Ichimonji-san! You should come and check out the rest of this floor with us! This seems like your kind of place!” Akiko insisted, taking Ayame by the hand. “You don’t mind, do you, Nagata-kun?”

“Eh…?” I looked at Ayame. She seemed to be okay with whatever…”Sure, go ahead. I’ll meet up with you later, alright, Ayame?”

“Mmhm! I’ll see you around, Nagata-kun!” Ayame waved as she was dragged off by the songwriter and reporter. Hmm…now what…? I suppose I could have a look around by myself, but I’m not used to deciding on where to go by myself. Maybe I can just join the next group I see.

“This place is totally awesome, Hiroaki-Nii!” Takashi’s voice came from my left. That meant Hiroaki as well…maybe the second group. “Oh…? Ah! Nagata-chan!” Dammit. “Nagata-chan!” The archaeologist ran up beside me, with Hiroaki following behind apprehensively. Same to you, buddy. “How come you aren’t with anyone?”

“Heh. Guessing nobody wanted to investigate with a know-it-all asshole like you.” Hiroaki grinned.

“Better than being a brainless asshole, I guess.” I shrugged. Ding. Right in the nerve. He’s so easy to annoy. “So, you guys find anything…?”

“Nothing ground-breaking, I guess. But we still have to check the upper floor. You wanna come with?” Hmm? Ugly jumpsuit? Asking me to follow along? It’s a cold day in hell.

“Oh! Oh! Yeah! You should totally come with us! It’ll be super fun!”

“You have a weird definition of ‘fun’, don’t you…?” I scratched my head. “Whatever, I guess I have nothing better to do. Ayame just got dragged away by Yumiko and Akiko.” I noticed the twinkle in Hiroaki’s eyes at the mention of the reporter’s name.

“Ah…Hashimoto-chan…she’s in a white shirt and skirt today! She truly looks amazing in anything, don’t you think so too, Hayashi-chan?!”

“Yeah! Hashimoto-chan is super pretty!” Takashi smiled in agreement. These two were so simple, honestly. “Although, Hiroaki-Nii is way prettier!” Eh?

Hiroaki blinked a few times before letting out an awkward chuckle, scratching the back of his head. “Eheheh…y-you’re hilarious, kiddo. Nobody is prettier than Hashimoto-chan.” Don’t get so easily flattered, you egotistical idiot. “Anyway, we’re gonna check out the upper floor, right?”

“Right! Let’s go!” Takashi stuck his arm in the air and rushed off up the staircase ahead of us. “C’mon! I’ll leave you behind if I have to!” Hiroaki and I glanced at each other before walking after the shorter male.

“Hiroaki-nii, huh?” I looked at the daredevil who folded his arms behind his head in response.

“It’s cute, right? He started rambling on about ‘Yamahata-nii’ was too much of a mouthful to say, and ‘Hiro-nii’ or ‘Yama-nii’ sounded more like pet names…so now it’s Hiroaki-nii. It’s cool though. I’ve always wanted to try being an older brother.”

“You certainly get along well.” I commented as we started climbing the large staircase, Takashi calling for us at the top. “I guess he must really admire you.”

“I guess so.” Hiroaki shrugged. “Hayashi-chan’s a good kid. So, I want to protect him…places like this will chew him up and spit him out. He’ll need any support he can get…so, you should help him as well whenever you can. He thinks highly of you as well…and, I guess I can respect a guy who was able to solve a murder like that. Wouldn’t have been able to solve it without you, as much as I hate to admit it.”

“Oh?! What’s this?” Takashi gasped as we reached the top of the stairs. “Is Hiroaki-Nii finally warming up to Nagata-chan?!”

I watched as Hiroaki’s face flared up with embarrassment. “As if! Respecting and liking are two completely different things, remember that, Hayashi-chan!”

“Mmhm! Lesson stored!” Takashi saluted with a grin. He was such a kid. Didn’t he say he never really had friends…? How was that even possible? He has that nature that just draws people to him. Maybe they just found the archaeology weird or something. “Alright. Let’s have a look around!” Takashi’s face was filled with determination as he ran off down the hall.

“Oi! Hayashi-chan! Don’t go off on your own!” Hiroaki called after him. That kid is way too energetic for me.

We walked down the hallway, passing a few storage rooms for things such as props, instruments, paints, anything you’d need for a theatre show, really. The window at the end of the hallway looked out across the courtyard. We still weren’t high enough to see over the wall that surrounded up. Hell, was it even possible to see over that wall?

Too many questions…

\--

As we continued our investigation, I exited the final room on the balcony on the opposite side of the great hall. Of course, those two being the idiots they are, I found them with a large bucket filled to the brim with water, both of them peering over the balcony.

“…what are you doing…?” I raised an eyebrow. Neither of them looked back at me. Their attention was completely focused on the ground below.

“Waiting…Hashimoto-chan just went into the room below here. So we’re gonna wait here until she comes out and dump this water on her.” Hiroaki explained.

“What? Why would you do that?”

“She’s wearing all white today, and we all know what we’ll get I we soak white clothes!” The two turned back, Hiroaki with a perverted grin on his face, and Takashi with a following smile.

“Panties and bras!” The two said in unison, both giving a thumbs up. I hate this group. I seriously do. I should probably go prepare their graves now.

“You guys are seriously the worst.” I mumbled. Not that it was gonna change anything. They were still gonna do it.

It was a while but we heard the door below open up, I was heading down the stairs. Ready to watch the havoc unfold. “Alright, now!” Hiroaki announced. The two tipped the water out the bucket, and a high-pitched scream sounded.

“I-Ichimonji-san, are you alright?!” Akiko ran out beside the gardener. What a pair of idiots. They saw Ayame’s white dress and assumed it was Yumiko. Akiko’s eyes went up to the pair that were leaning over the balcony. “Ugh! You assholes, what the hell was that?! Ichimonji-san are…” Akiko’s voice trailed off.

Oh.

Ayame wasn’t…

The gardener covered her chest and…area, looking ready to cry before a black jacket was placed over her back. Yumiko had walked out of the room now…all hell is about to break loose. “Sugiyama-san, take Ichimonji-san back to the dorms. She’ll catch a cold if she stays like that. I’ll take care of the disrespectful cretins.” The reporter’s eyes glared up at the two.

“U-uh…” Hiroaki gulped, Takashi mimicking his actions. “S…sorry…?”

“Come on, Ichimonji-san. Let’s get you back to the dorms.” Akiko’s sympathetic voice comforted Ayame as the two walked out of the building. Yumiko turned to the stairs, a blazing fury emanating from her. I moved out of her way instinctively. No way was I getting in her path.

Hiroaki moved to pick up Takashi, princess-style and started running towards the stairs. He hopped onto the banister and ran along as Yumiko ascended the stairs. He leapt over to the sloped banister and started to slide down with Takashi still in his arms. In fact, the archaeologist was looking at this like it was an adventure.

“You’re an idiot.” Yumiko sighed, sticking her arm out as Hiroaki passed her, causing his to trip up and land at the bottom of the stairs, Takashi a step behind him. The two groaned as Yumiko loomed over them. “Now…what do you have to say for yourself?” She asked darkly. Takashi blinked a few times.

“Blue.” He said. “Blue panties.” Wrong answer. Yumiko grabbed the two and hoisted them up by their collars.

“Yamahata-kun. Hayashi-kun. You’ll be coming with me…we have to decide on your punishment~” She smiled sadistically, dragging the two off. I can only hope and pray for their safety. But to be honest, if we find them dead, I won’t be surprised.

“That was quite the development, wouldn’t you say?” I watched as Mamoru and Fumio exited the room to my right. “Honestly, Yamahata-kun and Takashi-kun…what were they thinking…?” Fumio sighed.

“They don’t think. That’s the issue.” Mamoru rolled his eyes. “If they did, then they wouldn’t have done that. My sympathies for Ichimonji-san.” The assistant and the judge turned to me. “Oi! We’re heading back now. You should do the same.”

“I suppose we’ll have a lot to discuss. We’ll see you there, Nagata-kun.” Fumio waved as the pair walked off. Hmm…looks like Mamoru has a friend. I’m like a proud parent.

Grinning with that thought in mind, it was definitely time for me to head back. All this investigating has made me tired.


	11. Tension

I have so many questions about this.

I returned to the cafeteria to find Hiroaki and Takashi on their knees, with their arms tied behind their back, stripped down to their underwear with several large books resting on their lap. Don’t tell me this was the punishment that Yumiko has decided on…?

“They aren’t allowed to speak, so don’t bother.” Yumiko informed me as she exited the kitchen, a bottle of water in her hand. “They thought it would be funny to try and expose our underwear, so this was the natural solution.”

“Bit of a weird punishment though, don’t you think…?” Robyn grinned. “Are you some kind of sadist…?”

“Nothing like that.” The blonde shook her head. “I grew up in an old-fashioned dojo. This was the punishment my father used on my brother’s when they acted out of line.”

“A dojo? That explains how you were able to overpower people like Hayashi-kun and Yamahata-kun. Considering their talents must make them strong. I suppose your father must have subjected you and your siblings to training regimens every once and a while.” Orochi guessed, to which Yumiko laughed a little.

“My mother, actually. She was the one that ran the dojo. She used to be the Super High School Level Judo Instructor, so I was always ending up on the receiving end of her classes. Though, my father was still the disciplinarian of the house.”

“Ah, I see! I see!” Orochi nodded. “Oh…by the way, where’s Ichimonji-chan and Sugiyama-chan?”

“Oh, Akiko is helping Ayame with her wet clothes after Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-idiot decided to dump a bucket of water on her.” I explained. “Of course, I said it was a bad idea. They never listened to me though.”

“Perverts…the pair of you…” Etsuko growled. “I expected better from you, Hayashi-kun.”

“Nn….s-sorry, Hanabusa-sama.” Takashi pouted.

“No talking!” Yumiko yelled sharply, dumping another large book onto Takashi’s lap. “Well, I suppose we should all start now. I’ll explain anything we figure out to Ichimonji-san and Sugiyama-san later.” She turned back to the rest of us, a still angered scowl on her face. Gonna get wrinkles if you continue like that.

“Alright then. How about Ari-chan and I go first?” Kotone volunteered. “See, we decided to investigate the wall and see if we could find a way out of here. Which…we kind of managed to do.”

“Th-then Monokuma appeared and told us the door was never gonna open. It’s completely bolted shut…even the wall is impossible to get around. It would be far too deep for even someone like Hayashi-kun to dig under…” Chieko sighed. “It’s really beginning to look hopeless, isn’t it…?”

“Ah, chin up, Ari-chan!” Kotone grinned. “Way too early to be saying something as depressing as that! We can still find a way out of this dump! Maybe there’s a special key to the door hidden somewhere on campus! If we find that, then we could totally go home!”

“Though why do you think the wall was built so high…?” Fumio pondered as he twirled his gavel. “And even further than that. Who could have built it to that height…?”

“Yeah, it looks like it’s the height of a skyscraper.” Robyn nodded. “Totally weird…so, who’s up for climbing it?!” Was she serious?

“Hutchison-san, do you honestly think we’d all be able to scale something that size…?” Shin asked. “It’s impossible. Not to mention getting down would also be an issue. Using pickaxes to dig into the stone may work on the way up…but it would be much harder on the way back down.”

“Plus, what if your hand slipped whilst climbing? You could go ‘splat’!” Kotone added rather crudely.

“Though, I must consider that the possibility of a key existing…it could be highly probable if you think about it.” Orochi tapped his lips with his index finger. “Maybe Monokuma hid it in one of the other buildings. They’re locked so we can’t exactly go check to see if we’re right…but it’s just a theory.”

“Yeah, what’s with those locked buildings anyway?” Etsuko crossed his legs, leaning back into her chair. “Kamisaka-kun and I tried to climb into them through the window but Monokuma started ranting about how it was breaking and entering…like, really? This coming from the bear that’s trying to make us kill each other, honestly. What a hypocrite.”

“Of course, in the end the windows were locked from the inside. And we aren’t allowed to damage the windows. Monokuma added it to the rules.” Orochi informed. I pulled out my ElectroID to make sure he was telling the truth.

‘The destruction of windows from the outside of the buildings is strictly forbidden. If you’re inside already…I don’t care’. Wow. Monokuma really lays it on thick with these weird rules…but why only if we’re on the outside? Maybe it’s because we have to earn the right to investigate the buildings…? That’s probably his reason, actually…

“Speaking of those buildings, what do you suppose happened to that one that’s on the far right of the campus?” Etsuko asked. “I mean, something big must have happened for that building to be destroyed to that extent.”

“Maybe a bomb or something went off? That’s the only thing I can think of.” Robyn shrugged in response. “Though it’s not really what we should focus on right now. I mean…it’s important, sure.”

“But we should focus on the building we actually have access to, is that right?” Shin guessed. “Whilst I agree, we can’t just forget that the building exists either. It must have some importance to our situation.”

“Most likely. I feel like a lot of answers await us in that building.” Mamoru nodded. “As for the building we actually have access to, it seems like it was a performing arts building, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Anyone that spent five minutes in there would be able to tell that much.” Etsuko rolled her eyes. There was a click at the door as Akiko walked in with Ayame, the latter now wearing a black dress as opposed to the, probably still soaked, white one. The gardener glanced at the two in the corner for a moment before letting out a ‘hmph!’ and sitting at Robyn’s side.

Akiko on the other hand had ended up looming over the two, Hiroaki and Takashi both expressing clear fear of the girl in front of them. “You idiots…you seriously thought you would get away with something like that…?” She stomped her heel on top of the books that were sat on Hiroaki’s lap, pushing them down. “If you ever try something like this again, it won’t just be Hashimoto-san you have to answer to.”

“E-eh…Sugiyama-san…?” Chieko piped up. “A-aren’t you…?” Akiko followed the shrine maiden’s gaze. The way her skirt was positioned would…

“Ah! No worries about that!” She lifted the red skirt to reveal a pair of denim short-shorts underneath. “I’m always prepared to deal with perverts like these two! Shorts are a lifesaver, Arishima-san, remember that!” What was she? A life coach…? “Oh…sorry about that, by the way. We didn’t miss much, did we…?” Akiko took her foot off the large set of books and sat at the centre table.

“No, nothing that you wouldn’t have already known….I think. Meh, I’ll catch you up with everything else later.” Robyn shrugged.

“Alright, where were we…?” Kotone folded her arms behind her head. “….oh, right! The building we have access to. Fukao-kun said it was like a performing arts building? You’re gonna have to fill Ari-chan and I in. We never got the chance to check it out.”

“Hmm…it had pretty much everything a performer needs. Recording studio, dance studio, theatre. The second floor has a bunch of prop rooms as well. So, it’s pretty much set for Hanabusa-san and I.” Akiko nodded. “I’m excited! I really wanna record some music!”

“You actually record music…?” Fumio asked, clearly surprised. “Sorry if that sounded a little rude…what I mean to say is that you’re the Super High School Level Songwriter, and I’ve never actually heard your voice on the radio.”

“O-oh, yeah…” Akiko forced a laugh. “Well…I record music, but I have horrible stage fright, so I could never actually get up to perform my songs. Hence why I always sold my songs to other artists….”

“Sugiyama-san, what the hell?! You should totally do a performance for us!” Kotone grinned widely. “I mean, it couldn’t hurt could it?! The only way you can ever beat stage fright is to face it head-on! That’s what I always do whenever I come across a problem.” Yeah, but your problems consist of criminals with weapons. Akiko’s worst fear is a sea of strangers judging her…there’s a difference, Kotone.

“D-don’t be stupid!” Akiko flushed. “I couldn’t do that! No way!”

“Boo…you’re no fun.” Kotone pouted for a moment. “Oh well, I suppose I can’t force you to do it. Kinda sucks though. Let us know if you change your mind though, I’m sure you got one hell of a voice.”

“Anyway, moving back onto the topic at hand…did nobody investigate the third floor of the building…?” Mamoru asked. There was a third floor. “I’m a little shocked, that nobody had brought it up yet.”

“I never realised there was a third floor. How do you get to it…?” Ayame asked.

“There’s a small hall entrance behind the grand staircase. There’s a spiral staircase at the end that’ll take you to the third floor. Though it’s more like an attic.” Fumio explained. “It was filled with many films, presumably made here at Hope’s Peak. Unfortunately, we don’t have any way to view them. Fukao-kun and I tried to use one of the reels in the theatre, but they wouldn’t work with the projector.”

“Is that Monokuma’s doing?” Shin suggested. “Maybe there’s something on those reels he doesn’t want us seeing.”

“Like maybe it’s a key to finding out what’s going on!” Robyn’s face lit up. “If we can find a way to use those reels, then maybe we can find a way out of here!”

“U-unfortunately…I don’t think that’s the case.” Fumio said. “You see, the reels all had the director’s name on them. Each of them were made by a former student. They were the Super High School Level Horror Movie Director. Those are their works.”

“Eh? You should have said so earlier! Way to get our hopes up!” Etsuko scolded the judge. “Honestly, the only positive thing that came out of today is that I have somewhere I can practice my dancing. I don’t want to lose my edge.”

“Lose your edge? You’re the Super High School Level Choreographer though. I’m sure a day or so without practice couldn’t affect your performance.” Orochi smiled. I noticed Etsuko’s eyebrow twitch at that comment. Touchy subject?

“What the hell is that supposed to mean, you idiot?!” She growled, sending a glare at the decipherer. “Do you realise how hard dancing is? You need to practice otherwise you’ll never truly get good at it! You don’t become talented without years and years of practice, understand?! It’s the commitment that makes it a talent!”

“Oh…? But what about natural talent? I mean. I only ever had to look over codes once and I was able to decipher messages like there was no tomorrow. I think natural talent has something to do with it.” Etsuko’s eyes were burning into Orochi’s soul at this point. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so angry at a statement.

“…’Natural talent’…? That doesn’t exist. You either work for it, or you don’t. If you work and work, that’s only when you can call it a talent. Not everyone can dance, and that’s because they can’t put in commitment! Anything that relies on natural base talent to work…that’s no talent to me! And that includes all of your titles!”

The room was silent for a moment. So she didn’t consider any of us to be actually talented? “I mean…look at you all. A judge. A reporter. A shrine maiden, like, really?! What about any of those are talents! None of you worked at all to give anything that was gonna improve this world in any of its aspects!”

Shin rose from his seat and moved to stand at the opposite side of the table Etsuko was seated at. “Won’t improve the world in any of its aspects…not a talent…?” The spy looked at the girl with a cold empty look in his eyes. “Just what gives you the right to categorise us like that?”

Etsuko very clearly flinched from Shin’s gaze hitting her. Almost as if it had knocked the breath out of her body. She seemed…scared. “T-Tamuro-kun…” Fumio mumbled.

“Well…I suppose that Sugiyama-san’s title is a real talent, for the most part. It takes a lot of time and effort- commitment, if you ever want to write masterpieces of songs.” You could tell she was trying to make herself seem better to avoid making eye-contact with Shin.

“Oi! Tamuro-kun.” Kotone stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. “A word?” The spy looked back at the tall girl and nodded. The two quietly left the room, relieving some of the built up tension in the room. Not a lot, but some.

“U-uh…did we discuss the garden yet…?” Ayame said, trying to break the silence that was starting to set in.

“Garden?” Akiko repeated, placing an index finger on her lip in thought. “Was there a garden…?”

“Oh! Yeah there is! It’s amazing, right, Nagata-kun?” Ayame turned to me, a twinkle present in her gaze.

“Yeah, I guess. I checked out the storage shed, but it’s just a bunch of bags of mulch and gardening equipment. Nothing really interesting.” I shrugged, though out of the corner of my eye, I could just make out Orochi let a small smirk grow on his face. He couldn’t know about the picture, could he…? Then again, he was able to figure out the whole…

What can I even call what happened last night? Like, it was so weird that something like that happened. The point is, he knows when I’m lying, it seems. Maybe I’m easier to read than I’d like to admit.

“Of course, with all those bags of mulch, it can be quite hazardous to walk around in there, wouldn’t you agree, Sora?” Orochi smiled. Oh, really? We’re gonna go there. “But that doesn’t really matter, does it…? Anyway, I suppose that’s pretty much everything, isn’t it?”

“Not quite.” Mamoru disagreed quickly. “I suppose now is the time to bring it up, but there’s been some suspicion surrounding you lately, Kamisaka-kun. Nobody seems to be bringing it up, but we can’t ignore it.”

“Suspicion…?” Orochi tilted his head to the side. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean.”

“Really? You must be the only one.” Yumiko brushed her hair behind her ear. “Considering you recent behaviour, it begs a few questions on whether we can trust you or not. Every time Monokuma mentions Hope’s Peak, you seem to become rather aggravated. You tried to investigate on your own today, and when Yamahata tried to stop you, you lashed out at him.”

Orochi frowned for a second, looking around the room. There were a lot of distrusting expressions staring at him. “I apologise…but, it’s an experience I’d rather not discuss with everyone. If that makes me suspicious, then I can’t really do much to stop it, right?” He let out a long sigh.

“I still trust you, I guess.” I mumbled, a glare being sent my way from Mamoru. Jealous much? “I mean, sure there are some things that have to be questioned, but it’s not like you’ve actually done anything to warrant distrust from the rest of us. You have your reasons, and we probably shouldn’t try to pry into your personal life.”

“S-Sora…” A gentle smile formed on his face, the guy literally looks like he’s about to cry. “Thank you. It means a lot to hear that.”

Mamoru scowled for a moment before standing up. “Well! I suppose this concludes today’s meeting, doesn’t it…? If any of you need me, I’ll be in my room.”

Everyone was silent as the brunet left the room with as much as a proper goodbye. “Hey, Nagata-kun? Why is Fukao-kun like that…?” Ayame said as soon as the door closed. “You know, always serious. And he always seems to have an annoyed expression on his face. Does he ever smile?”

“Hmm…” I thought for a second before shrugging. “I mean, he used to. Before we came here, he was like any normal kid…though, he was a total wimp. Cried about a lot of stuff. Then, of course time changed him and he became as stoic as you see him today.”

“So, something happened…?” I turned to Etsuko. “Nobody’s personality takes such a huge turn without some kind of catalyst.” I fell silent. I didn’t really know what else to do. She was right, but I couldn’t explain to them what had happened. What a pain in the ass…

“Whatever, right?” I stood up. “I’m heading to my room, see you guys later, I guess.” I waved a little as I headed to the door. A noise from the other side started to build up as I approached. Dear god, please don’t let this be something stupid.

I opened the door to find Shin and Kotone faced with each other, visible bruises across their bodies, both panting heavily. They looked ready to drop to the floor. “…so…you guys having fun out here…?” I raised an eyebrow. The two looked at me as a few of the others began to flood outside to see what the commotion was.

Chieko let out a small gasp, running to Kotone’s side. “Wh-wh-what happened to you?!” She cried out, examining her injuries. “W-were you and Tamuro-kun f-fighting…?”

Kotone gave weak grin and a thumbs up. “Don’t worry about me…Ari-chan!” She grunted, straightening up. “I can take a few hits…”

“That looks to be more than a few.” Fumio frowned, walking over to Shin. “Are you okay, Tamu-“

“I’ll be fine.” Shin cut the judge off. “These injuries aren’t the worst thing I’ve ever dealt with. I can tend to them in my room.” The white haired boy kept his gaze away from the group. Kotone gritted her teeth, clearly ready to attack him again.

“O-Okuda-chan…” Chieko mumbled. The bounty hunter glanced back at the slightly trembling girl. She paused for a second before letting a warm smile set on her face.

Kotone placed a hand on Chieko’s head to comfort her. “Don’t worry…I promise you I’ll never let you see me fight, alright…?” Chieko looked up, worry still set in her expression. She nodded in response anyways. “Good. Now…I should probably go get these treated, huh?”

“There’s some medical items in the storage room, if I remember correctly.” Etsuko stepped forward. “You should treat any cuts before they become infected.” Kotone nodded, throwing one last look at Shin, who had still not looked at anyone in the group, before heading to the storage room with Chieko.

“If that’s all, I’m going to go to the performing arts building. I’d like to investigate that third floor.” Shin announced, attempting to head off. Fumio reacted quickly, latching onto the spy’s wrist.

“I’m coming with you.” Fumio said. “You can’t convince me otherwise.” Shin stared for a moment, letting out a sigh. He motioned for Fumio to follow along and the two left as a pair.

“Geez…this is such a pain in the ass.” Etsuko growled. “Can we not go one day without something stupid or dramatic happening…?”

“Says the girl that called everyone talentless.” Yumiko said before walking away.

“Does anyone else realise that this means Fukao-kun just walked by whilst those two were fighting…?” Robyn murmured. “Like, really? He didn’t do anything to stop it?”

Nice work Mamoru. Then again, you never were one to get involved in conflict, were you…?


	12. Peace

“Volleyball?” Akiko repeated, taking a sip from her drink. We had all gathered at the cafeteria the next day to discuss what to do, Hiroaki, the fucking genius that he is, proposed the idea of having a game of volleyball. “Where did that idea come from…?”

“Come on, it’ll be fun! We’ve been so worried since we arrived here that we haven’t actually did anything fun. I’d say a seven-a-side a game of volleyball would do the trick to brighten the mood!” The daredevil explained. “What do you think?”

“A chance to whoop a bunch of boys at a sport like relies on height and power, huh? I’m up for it!” Kotone grinned sadistically. Yeah, big no from me. “But…what about people to keep track of points? And a referee…?”

“Yeah…yeah, you’re right. Oh! I have a good idea for a referee! How about the butler guy that was at the trial?” Hiroaki suggested. “I mean, it’ll take some convincing to get Monokuma to let him…but, it’s worth a shot.”

“Motoki Hakamada, hmm…?” Fumio twirled his gavel. “I suppose he could be a rather neutral judge, yes. But what of our point tracker…?”

“I’ll do it.” I volunteered. “Sports aren’t really my thing, so I’m better off sticking to the side lines.” Mamoru clicked his tongue at that statement.

“No, you just don’t want to do anything that require work. Sports just happens to be a specific part of the broad area of things you don’t enjoy doing.” Okay, but did I ask? Honestly, I don’t understand why he nit-picks so much. “Even so, he’s probably the best choice for keeping track of the points. He’s got good eyes, so he’ll be able to tell when the ball goes out.” Aw, some praise. That was a nice change of pace.

“But that leaves the boys with six players, whilst the girls have seven. It’s hardly fair for us to have an advantage.” Yumiko pointed out. “Hmm…Arishima-san? How about you be the other point tracker alongside Nagata-kun? I don’t think you’re the sporty type, are you…?”

“O-oh…no, I suppose I’m not…” Chieko pushed the tips of her index fingers together awkwardly.

“Yeah, I’d feel bad if I spiked the ball and hit Arishima-chan in the face.” Hiroaki frowned.

“So you’d be fine with hitting the rest of us, is that it…?” Robyn growled. “I see how it is…” The rest of the girls, aside from Chieko all glared at Hiroaki, clearly ready for the game in a way the boys were dreading.

“Th-that isn’t what I meant! Really! Don’t twist my words like that, it isn’t cool!”

“Yeah! Hiroaki-nii would feel bad about hitting any girl in the face!” Takashi defended him.

“Oh, Hayashi-kun, what are you going to do for the game anyway…? You’re too short to be a spiker, and I don’t know how good your control is to be a setter…” Robyn thought for a moment. “So…are you going to make him libero…?”

“Obviously. Defence would be the only fair position for him.” Mamoru commented. “How do you know so much about volleyball anyway…?”

“Hmph. That much should be obvious.” She pushed her glasses up. She didn’t actually play volleyball back at her school, did she? “I watched all the episodes of Haikyuu!! And read the manga!” Ah. That makes more sense. “Don’t worry though, I’m really good at putting things into practice! I’ll be great at this!”

“So, we’re basically destined to lose from the start. That’s what I’m hearing.” Etsuko frowned. “Whatever, as long as I’m setter, I’ll be fine.”

“Huh? You wanna be setter…? It’s tougher than you’d think.” Fumio said. “It’s a very calculating position to play. So...Fukao-kun. You don’t mind being the setter for our team, do you?”

“I suppose not, but I think you would be a better candidate. I may not have height going in my favour, but I can jump rather high.”

“Wow, you’re like a brunet Hinata!” Robyn’s eyes lit up. “This is gonna be so awesome! I can’t wait to get started!”

“I don’t know what that means, but…no matter. Do our rooms have PE kits in the drawers…?” Mamoru asked. “And if not, then will there be any in the storage room?”

“There’s definitely some in the storage room.” Akiko recalls. “Which is good, means we all just gotta go pick one out for ourselves and we can go get ready.”

“Girls get first pick.” Yumiko announced suddenly.

“E-eh?! Why aren’t we all just going at the same time?” Hiroaki frowned.

“Hmph! After the stunt you and Hayashi-kun pulled yesterday, it’s amazing you’re still alive. You should really thank those rules. So, instead, we’re just gonna make sure you don’t try and hide any of the normal sized girl PE kits.” Etsuko explained. “Honestly, even a pair of boneheads like you two should be able to figure that much out.”

“Y-yikes…that was really harsh, Hanabusa-sama…” Takashi sighed. “You really think we’d do something like that, huh…?”

“Yes. I do.” Etsuko said bluntly, walking out of the room with the rest of the girls, aside from Chieko. The shrine maiden shuffled over to me, a shy smile on her face.

“Sh-should we go set things up for the game, Nagata-kun?” She asked. “I figured it would be good for us to set it up quickly before they all get ready.” Geez, she’s giving me that look that only a girl like her could make. You can’t say no to her.

“Sure, I guess. Oh…but who’s gonna get Motoki for the match…?” I turned to the other guys in the room. Shin half-raised his arm in the air.

“I’ll attempt to convince Monokuma to let Hakamada-kun be the referee. I make no promises, but I’ll try my best.” The spy stood. “Wish me luck.” And with a bow, Shin walked out of the room. Fumio letting out a small sigh as he did.

“He’s still agitated over what happened yesterday.” The judge mumbled. “I went to the performing arts building with him to see if I could talk to him, but he just brushed off any questions I had for him. He’s much more stubborn than you would expect him to be.”

“Just what did Okuda-san say to him to make him so pissy…?” Hiroaki folded his arms. “He’s acting like a fuckin’ kid.” Says you, the person who dumped water on a girl so you could see her underwear.

“I’m worried about Tamuro-kun as well…” Chieko admitted, turning to the rest of the guys. “B-but…I believe he and Okuda-chan will work everything out eventually, we just need to give them time. So, I’ll believe in them both!” She smiled sweetly. “I hope you will as well…” The rest of the guys stared at the little girl, deafeningly silent.

In a quick movement, Hiroaki put his hands on the shrine maiden’s shoulders. “Arishima-chan…please, for the sake of everyone here…never change!” He looked up, revealing he had teared up. What…the fuck is wrong with this guy? He is literally the joke character out of a comedy anime.

“E-e-eh?!” Chieko panicked, seeing Hiroaki so emotional after what she said. Maybe now is a good time for me to step in.

“Well, either way. Chieko and I have stuff to do, right…?” I started to lead the girl away before Mamoru called my name to stop me. “….hmm?” I looked back to see his face had darkened threateningly. God, what did I do this time…?

“Sora…you’d better not shove all the work onto Arishima-san, understand?” He warned. I’m not a monster, geez. “Arishima-san, makes sure he does something to help set up the court, otherwise…”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it.” I brushed it off as Chieko and I started to move out the door. “Don’t get your tighty-whities in a bunch.”

“Wh-?! I don’t wear-!” Was all I heard as the door shut behind me. Ahh…the satisfaction of the flustered yelling of Mamoru Fukao. Always hilarious. Without fail.

Hmm…maybe I really am a sadist…

\--

Urgh…this net is all tangled. Just great. It was hard enough moving the poles that hold the net up, but this net is the worst. I watched as Chieko wheeled out the point board out of the storage room. The girl was stronger than I expected. Must have been all the work she did at the shrine.

“Nagata-kun, are you having trouble with that…?” She tilted her head back to look at me once she put the point board in position. “I wonder how long this was left. It must have taken a while for it to get all tangled like this.”

“I’ll get it eventually, don’t worry about it.” I murmured, trying to manoeuvre the net around to get the tangles out. Goddammit, am I making this worse…? “So, I don’t really know much about you, do I?” I may as well start a conversation whilst I’m at it. “Tell me about yourself.”

“O-oh, uh…wh-what do you want to know?” That stutter implies she’s not used to talking about herself. Get ready for a change of pace then, because I despise talking about myself.

“Like…how come you’re the Super High School Level Shrine Maiden? How did that come about, huh…?” It was a fair question when you think about it.

“Ah, well…my mother used to be the shrine maiden back in the village I lived in. It’s really far up in the mountains, we don’t even have a supermarket there. We have to go to the nearest towns to buy things. But, it’s really peaceful, and everyone knows everyone…” She smiled as she fondly remembered her home life. “We have a special shrine for a guardian spirit that watched over the village, and my family has tended to that shrine for generations. It’s always the eldest daughter that becomes the next shrine maiden…but I ended up with the position instead.”

“Instead? You have an older sister…?” I looked up.

“Th-that’s right…but, she went off to Tokyo when I was really young so I don’t remember a lot about her. She wanted to become a famous actress, so she went to Tokyo thinking she could get a big break there, but, uh…” Her mood suddenly dropped. “…on the way back from an audition…she was involved in a car accident…” I stopped.

“C…car accident…? Your sister…?” I proceeded with trying to unknot the net.

“Mmhm…I don’t like talking about it…so, that’s about as much as I can tell you. I hope you don’t mind…”

“I don’t blame you for not wanting to talk about it, Chieko. Probably not pleasant to think about.” I closed my eyes. “But…I’m here if you need to talk about it, ‘kay…?” The shrine maiden’s eyes widened with complete shock.

“Wh-why…? Why would you want to hear me ramble about something like that…? It’s s-so depressing, I don’t understand…”

“I worry about people blaming themselves for things like that. You took the shrine maiden title after your sister left, right…? I worry that you might blame yourself because you took her space, in a way.” It wasn’t worth talking about, was it…?

“…N…” She twiddled her thumbs. “Nagata-kun…di-“ The doors opened suddenly, cutting Chieko off.

“Ah.” Motoki Hakamada walked into the gym. “Nagata-sama, Arishima-sama. Good day to you both.” He bowed. “I was asked by Tamuro-sama to watch over a volleyball game, are you two competing today?”

“Nah. Sports aren’t my thing.” I shook my head. “I’m just being forced to set it up….or at least I would be if it weren’t for this damn net.”

“Oh? Allow me…” Motoki took the net from my hands and began to move about in seemingly random directions. I actually had to wonder if he knew what the hell he was doing, but…I’ll eat my words, I’m impressed. He held up the net, not a tangle in sight. “There we are! Now, shall I hang this up?”

“O-oh, no! We wouldn’t want you do any unnecessary work!” Chieko grabbed one end of the net. “Leave it Nagata-kun and I, please!” I mean, I’ll do it, but at least check with me before dragging me into work.

“Nonsense.” Motoki pushed his glasses up. “As the ex-Super High School Level Butler, I’m very much used to attending to a variety of tasks. In fact, by former Young Master was an avid volleyball fan. So, just by coincidence, I’m used to setting up volleyball courts by myself.”

“Right…Hakamada-kun, you must have been in the 76th class, or around there, right…?” Chieko smiled. “What was it like in Hope’s Peak Academy for you…? Did you have a lot of friends…?” Motoki grimaced for a moment.

“Unfortunately, a lot happened during my time at Hope’s Peak. The exam building was attacked, my classmates were expelled…amongst…other events. It was not pleasant. Seeing as classes were not mandatory, I did not really meet many other students. Though, I suppose there were one group in my class who were rather friendly towards me.” He smiled fondly. “I do hope they’re doing alright…”

Why wouldn’t they be…? Maybe something happened after he graduated. “Apologies.” He shook his head. “I shouldn’t bore you with details of the past.”

“N-no, don’t think like that!” Chieko frowned. “I really like getting to hear about people’s lives! It’s amazing…to hear how somebody else gets to experience the world, seeing how different it is from your life. It gives the world a lot more depth…s-so, don’t apologise for me asking questions, please!”

“A…Arishima-sama…of course. It was rude of me to say such things.” Motoki bowed. “Now…shall we hang this net up before the other Young Masters and Mistresses arrive…?”

\--

“Alright people, let’s do this!” Hiroaki grinned as the two teams got into their positions. Chieko took a seat by the point board, Motoki was standing by the net to keep an eye on the teams. “Let’s flip a coin and see who goes first.”

“Understood.” Motoki nodded, taking a small token out of his pocket. It was gold-plated with Monokuma’s face as a design on one side. “When I flip the Monokuma Coin, please call it, Yamahata-sama.” There was a ‘ping’ as the coin flew into the air. A moment later, Hiroaki cried out ‘heads’.

The coin bounced on the ground a few times before eventually landing the blank side. “Aw, crap!” Hiroaki face-palmed. “Sorry guys.”

“It was a fifty-fifty chance, don’t worry about it.” Fumio shrugged. “Alright then, we’ll just have to take the first point and get the ball on this side.” I guess Fumio’s trying to take up the role of the team captain.

“You wish I’d make it that easy.” Kotone grinned, spinning the ball. “We’ll just play one set, alright? Make this real quick.” Nobody objected to that, which is good. I’d rather not watch a volleyball game the whole day. Motoki blew the whistle to signal Kotone to serve. The ball went up, Kotone curving her arm up and over to hit the ball from the back of the court to the other side of the net.

The ball flew almost to the back lines of the court before Takashi moved forward, hitting the ball up. Looks like the kid a lot faster than he lets on. The ball started to feel closer to the net. Mamoru moved to underneath the ball, raising his hands, ready to intercept it. I watched as Hiroaki took a running start towards the net, but Kotone and Yumiko followed him on their side of the net.

All three jumped up at the same time after Mamoru tossed the ball to Hiroaki. Just went it seemed like the daredevil was going to try and smash the ball through the defences, he pushed the ball over their arms, making the ball fall right behind them.

When it seemed like the first point was going to be going to the boys, Ayame reacted and dived, barely keeping the ball off the floor. Robyn quickly ran up behind her and hit the volleyball up to give it some more air time for the rest of the girls to assess the situation.

Yumiko backed up a bit to line up with the ball, and at the same time Akiko started to run up as the ball got closer to the reporter. Akiko leaped into the air as Yumiko tossed the ball over to her. The boys didn’t react quickly enough, and she slammed the ball down onto their side of the court.

The boys looked at where the ball had landed, slightly dumbfounded by how Akiko had managed to be so athletic. The songwriter simply adjusted her hair that was tied back into a tight ponytail and said “Well, I suppose I should have told you earlier. When I was in middle school, I was forced into the volleyball team…and we were the best in the Prefecture…”

“Interesting.” Mamoru smirked. Oh boy, here we go. The Fukao Family competiveness is coming through. “Looks like this will be a fun game, won’t it…?”

“With Sugiyama-san on our side, you guys have no chance!” Robyn grinned. “We’re gonna win, got it?!” Chieko and I watched as the words were thrown back and forth in a tug-of-war type of argument. It was kind of nice to see everyone so relaxed for once. Almost peaceful.

Almost hopeful.

“It’s nice for us to be brought together like this, right…?” Orochi looked at me. “I certainly think so…”

“I guess so, yeah.” I shrugged. Being lax is the only thing I have going for me. I’m so laid back so that nobody else has to. “It’s better than the fighting from yesterday, that’s for sure.”

“Hopefully we can stay like this…” The decipherer smiled happily. “If we stayed like this then…no, never mind. I’m just being silly.” He shook his head.

“Oi!” Hiroaki called over. “Loverboy! Wanna get in position?” Orochi laughed a little, his face bright. Seriously, he was almost too pure today. What gives?

“Watch me win, alright, Sora?” He patted my head suddenly before moving back onto the court. I held my gaze for a second before looking at the point board. 01-00 for the girls. Looks like this match will take a while, but…

I guess that’s not such a bad thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter took so long to get up, the workload for me at school has really been eating into my time, so I haven't have a lot of time to write this! But I'm still determined to write it! I swear it!
> 
> Remember to leave a comment to let me know what you think. It helps a lot.


	13. Discord

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the volleyball game continuing as planned, hopefully this will turn out to be a peaceful day for the group.

The game progressed faster than I had expected. It was a constant battle to get that once point ahead, and before anyone had realised it, the score had reached 21-21. I couldn’t help but notice how tired everyone had gotten after a while, yet they never seem to lose their energy. Robyn especially, she just seemed to get more riled up.

“Oi, Chieko.” I looked at the shrine maiden. “How long do you think this game is gonna go on for…? They’ve been neck-and-neck the whole time. I really don’t want this to play into a deuce or something.”

“N-not sure…it can be rather hard to tell. Okuda-chan and Yamahata-kun has been spiking the ball like no tomorrow, but it never seems like those two will tire out.” She shifted her gaze around the court. Like she was examining each of the players. “They all such diverse strengths and weaknesses, it’s rather amazing.”

“Eh?”

“W-well…it might not be such a great skill…b-but I’m great at observing people!” She blushed with a cute smile. “I’ve always been good at observation, it helps me understand people better. I can tell just what kind of players they all are just by watching them move about. Th…though…Kamisaka-kun was rather difficult.”

“Orochi?” I glanced at the black haired boy.

“He seems to be very good at keeping his weaknesses hidden. Th-though, I suppose it’s not a bad trait to have. However, it does beg the question of how he gained such a trait.” She frowned for a moment.

“Super High School Level Decipherer. Maybe he was involved in government work and just picked up the skill from that environment.” I shrugged. Everyone was so suspicious of the guy, but it’s not like he’s properly acted out against anyone.

The whistle blew again. The girls had managed to get another point. 22-21. Looks like the game will be over soon, which is good. Thought he server for the girl’s team at this part of the rotation.

“Ichimonji-san! You got this!” Kotone gave a thumbs up to the gardener. Ayame hadn’t exactly being doing the best in the latter half of the game, looks like the length of the game was finally getting to someone.

Ayame stared at the ball for a moment before throwing it up and sending it across the net. Or…at least she tried to. The ball hit the net and was knocked back onto the girl’s side. 22-22. Maybe I spoke too soon.

“A-ah…sorry!” Ayame apologised quickly.

“Don’t mind, don’t mind!” Kotone assured her as she passed the ball to the boys. “We’ll get the next one!”

\--

28-29 for the girls. They hit deuce and it’s been going back and forth since. Please. PLEASE. Someone end this damn game already. The rotation fell onto Kotone to serve. “Alright, ladies! We’re gonna make this the fast one, so let’s give ‘em hell!”

The ball went up and Kotone smacked it across the net. With a swift movement, Takashi moved and intercepted the ball with ease. Everyone seemed to have really gotten hang of their roles since the beginning of the game. “Chance ball!” Hiroaki signalled. “Fukao-kun! To me!”

Mamoru’s eyes shifted to the daredevil for a moment, he was analysing his choices, but I saw it. That grin on his face that showed he knew what to do. He tossed the ball behind him, and with bullet-like reflexes, Hiroaki leaped into the air and spiked the ball.

Though, it was a small panic as the ball went off course and came straight for us, specifically Chieko. Kotone sprinted in reaction, shielding the shrine maiden from the ball, the bounty hunter using her back for the ball to ricochet off of into the air. Kotone let out a grunt as the ball hit her back, but quickly turned to the rest of her team. “It’s up! Go in for the kill!”

The determination was prominent on the girl’s team as they all sprang into action. Ayame knocked the ball forward from the back of the court. Yumiko adjusted her standing position accordingly to receive the ball, Akiko, Etsuko, and Ayame both getting ready to run up. There was slight panic in the boys’ faces when Yumiko tossed the ball forward.

The three girls all ran in sync, but it was unexpectedly Etsuko who went in for the final spike. Hiroaki and Shin tried to block her before she got the chance, but the choreographer smashed the ball past their hands before they got the chance to jump up. Takashi and Fumio both dived for the ball, but it hit the ground between their hands.

Motoki blew the whistle to signal the end of the match, the boys team all collectively grimaced at the fact they lost. On the hand, the girls were all cheering for each other, Chieko had even been hauled onto the court by Kotone to join in on the celebration. Me? I’m just glad it’s finally over, I thought the game was never gonna end.

Oh…right.

I grabbed a few of the water bottle from a tray that Chieko had brought along with her and walked onto the boy’s side of the court. “Nice work out there.” I said as I started to hand out the bottles. “Honestly, I didn’t think anyone was gonna win at the rate you were going.”

Shin took a large gulp of the water and sighed. “Unfortunately, we didn’t expect the three spikers at the end there…I suppose the girls were expecting that.” The spy wiped the sweat on his forehead away with his arm. God…it really did stink of sweat in here now that I think about it. “Though we worked well as a team, wouldn’t you all agree?”

“Hayashi-kun, I never expected you to have such good reflexes.” Orochi turned to the archaeologist. “What’s with that? You were like a ninja or something.”

“O-oh, uh…” Takashi stumbled for words. “I was in the school soccer team in middle school, so my ability to manoeuvre kind of improved naturally, I guess…” That seemed a little….desperate.

“Sorry about that, by the way, Sora.” Orochi put a hand on my shoulder suddenly as the rest of the guys conversed around us. “I couldn’t win that for you…now that I think about it, I guess I didn’t really do much of anything, did I?” Orochi only got to receive the ball a few times throughout the game, so I guess he’s technically right.

“I think you did fine though.”

“Really?” He seemed surprised that I’d say that, but smiled nonetheless. “Hmm…I don’t feel like I did enough to warrant that kind of compliment, that’s the thing…” I sly grin replaced his smile in an instant. “Maybe I’ll just have to give you a show that deserving of your praise sometime…?”

Before I could react to the idea, Mamoru behind him began to cough violently. “F-Fukao-kun, are you alright?!” Fumio patted the assistants back. “Did you choke on your water? You shouldn’t drink it so quickly.”

“Y-yes, something like that...” Mamoru nodded. “A-anyways, we should really get this packed away, shouldn’t we…?”

“Ah. Leave that to me, Fukao-sama.” Motoki bowed. “It shan’t take long, plus I do not have any other tasks to attend to at the moment, I was getting hopelessly bored.” He put a gloved finger to his chin in thought. “…perhaps I could make dinner for you all tonight…?”

“Hey, that sounds great!” Kotone joined in the conversation. “A meal from the former Super High School Level Butler? That’s something we can’t just pass up, y’know?!”

“Okuda-san is right…” Etsuko agreed. “It would be amazing if you would do something like that for us, Hakamada-kun.”

“Understood.” Motoki nodded. “I suppose I’ll start preparations later. For now, I’ll take pack everything away. Why don’t you all enjoy the bathhouse in the meantime?”

“Yeah! Good idea! Let’s all-“

“Hold it!” Yumiko stopped the excitable Takashi before he ran off. “Are you forgetting who won the match…? Shouldn’t it be us that use the bathhouse first…?”

“B-but what about us?” Takashi pouted.

“You can all wait your turn.” Akiko said. “Or use the shower in your room, I don’t care. Either way, I’m gonna use the bathhouse. Any girls who want to join me are welcome.” As the seven girls filed out of the room in their group, they left the crestfallen archaeologist behind them.

“H-hey now, Hayashi-chan, we’ll just wait out turn. They can’t take that long, right?” Hiroaki attempted to cheer the shorter boy up. “For now I kinda just want to grab something from the cafeteria. Then we can all meet up at bathhouse later!”

“Eh…? You’re just deciding we’re all going?” I raised an eyebrow. Talk about suspicious.

“Don’t be like that, its male bonding! We haven’t done anything since we got here! We got to change that right away!”

“Well, what do you want to do in the meantime…?” Fumio asked. “It’s not like we could really do anything but wait for the girls to finish up in the bathhouse…” I didn’t like the grin that appeared on Hiroaki’s face when Fumio said that. I really don’t like where this is headed.

“Then we could spy on the girls in the bathhouse…” He suggested, the perverted blush forming on his face. “Think about it! It’s the perfect opportunity!”

“Wh…are you insane?!” Fumio yelled at the daredevil. “Nobody would be insane enough to-“

“Let’s do it, Hiroaki-nii!” Takashi smiled, jumping up and down. “Sounds like super exciting fun! Plus it puts our spy skills to the test, it’s like a thrill of a lifetime!”

“You bring shame to word ‘spy’.” Shin rolled his eyes. “I have better things to do than peek on girls. I’d rather investigate that suspicious door that’s in the wall. Anyone care to join me…?”

“I was actually planning on doing the same thing.” Mamoru folded his arms. “I was curious about it after our group meeting from yesterday, so I thought I’d go see it as soon as I had a chance today. I’ll accompany you there.”

“It might be best if I tag along.” Orochi walked over to the two. “There might some kind of code on the door that we need to have deciphered. I don’t get a lot of chances to use my talent, so it’ll be a nice change of pace.”

“Right, a fair point. What about you, Numajiri-kun? Will you come with us…?” Shin turned to the judge who was awkwardly twirling his gavel. “…don’t tell me you’re seriously considering going with those two…”

“W-w-well…” Fumio blushed a little.

“The Super High School Level Judge being a part of our team…we could bring this to levels we couldn’t even imagine…” Hiroaki nodded. Seriously, is this all he thought about…? “Great to have you!”

“Well. After that disappointment of a turnout. Nagata-kun, what about you…?” Shin looked at me. “Are you going with those three, or would you rather go investigate the door with us…?” I’ve already investigated the door…but with those three, I could learn something new. Plus, it wouldn’t be worth the risk of peeking in on the likes of Kotone and Yumiko. No way.

“I’ll go with you guys.” I nodded to Orochi, Mamoru, and Shin. “The more we learn about the situation, the closer we get to leaving.”

“Good to hear that you’re using your head, rather than listening to your hormones.” The spy nodded. “Then let’s hurry. The quicker we take a look, the better.”

\--

“Hmm…” Mamoru traced his finger across an area of the door. “This really is a complicated structure, isn’t it…?” He looked to Shin. “What do you think of it…? Do you think it was government constructed…?”

“No…” He seemed unsure. “The structure is like nothing I’ve seen before. Even so, I doubt it could have been done by the government…I presume it…it might have done by someone in the school.”

“What? Could it have been whoever’s controlling Monokuma…?”

“That’s the most likely scenario…” Shin nodded. “Though the wall…it must have taken months, even years for it to be built to that height. But we got here a few days ago…yet another mystery to add to the pile.”

“Maybe not.” Orochi shook his head. He was moving his hand along the dents in the metal. “Hmm…I see…!” He smiled, pulling out a notepad and a pencil. “These aren’t just normal dents. They’re Morse code! Clever, clever…”

“I’m surprised you managed to notice that.” Mamoru said. Was he trying to compliment him, or…?

“I noticed the dents were all in the same few shapes, so it wasn’t too hard to figure out…” He continued writing down the code in front of him, glancing between his notepad and the door for a minute or so before holding up the code in front of him.

His smile faded, and his face darkened. “Th…this…” His voice seemed heavy.

“Kamisaka-kun…? What’s wrong? What does it say…?” Shin walked in front of him. “K…Kamisaka-kun…? Your eyes…” It was strange to see Shin’s composure being hit off-balance. 

“It was the 79th class…that’s what it says…” Orochi mumbled.

“The 79th class…?” Mamoru repeated. “Our upperclassmen…? You mean they were the ones that trapped us in here?”

“Certainly seems that way.” Orochi flipped the notepad to close it and shoved it back into his pocket, alongside his pencil. “I suppose I should run along now. There are some things I want to grab from my room.” He twisted around and began to walk off.

“H…hey! We’re not done talking!” Mamoru yelled, starting to go after him.

“…Shin…are you alright…?” I walked over to the spy who still seemed slightly spooked by whatever it was that he saw. “It’s not like you to get so shook by something…”

“Yes, I suppose you’re right. It’s unbecoming of a spy to be caught off guard like that. Especially the Super High School Level Spy…but, I just didn’t expect that to happen.”

“You said something about Orochi’s eyes, didn’t you…?” I wasn’t sure where this was going, but-

“They were…the eyes of despair…” That was the last thing I expected to hear.

\--

“Oi!” Mamoru grabbed Orochi by the shoulder and spun him around to face him. He had managed to catch up with him at the fountain in the centre of the courtyard. “What the hell was that?! Just what’s your game?!”

“My ‘game’…?” Orochi repeated. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean, Fukao-kun.” His expression was much more serious than how it usually was. “I did my job by investigating the door. That’s all I wanted to do. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Bullshit!” Mamoru spat. “You’re plotting something, aren’t you?! You’re the most suspicious person in this damn group, and for good reason!”

“ _I’m_ the most suspicious? That’s a laugh. If anything, I’d say you and Sora are the most suspicious here, as a matter of fact. I didn’t give out the rest of the message just to save Sora’s ass, so you should be thanking me.”

“The fuck is that supposed to mean…?” Mamoru growled. Orochi reached into his pocket and pulled out the notepad again, flipping to the translation of the Morse code and handed it to Mamoru. The assistant took the moment to process what it said.

“It was the 79th class – Nagata.” Orochi read out. “It specifically called out Sora in the message…and with you two being so close, it’s only natural to suspect you as well…”

“Th…this can’t be real.” Mamoru’s grip tightened on the notepad. His skin had gone paper-white. “S…Sora…he would never…”

“I don’t think so either…I won’t bring this up with anyone, but on one condition…” Orochi suddenly grabbed Mamoru’s wrist, pulling him closer and used his free hand to tilt Mamoru’s chin up for them to make eye contact. “…let’s just say you’ll owe me one, alright…Moru-chan…?”

\--

At dinner later, there was clear tension in the room. I have no idea what happened between Orochi and Mamoru, but I’ve never seen Mamoru so uncomfortable in my life. It was…annoying to see. “Ah…” Robyn let out a satisfied sigh, her cheeks were still flushed from the bath and her hair was still wrapped in a towel. “That bathhouse is still amazing…”

“Sorry we were in there so long, by the way. We didn’t realise how quickly the time had passed.” Ayame admitted. They girls had stayed in there from until the end of the volleyball game until Motoki called everyone for the meal he had prepared.

“You say ‘we’, but in reality it was just Okuda-san, Hutchison-san, and Arishima-san.” Etsuko corrected. “I was the first one out of there.”

“It’s fine though, we really don’t mind.” Hiroaki brushed it off. I suppose those three managed to spy on them without being noticed. Kind of a miracle, when you think about it.

“Really…? Well, alright then, if you say so…” Chieko nodded. “It was really kind of Hakamada-san to make us something to eat, don’t you think…?”

“I suppose that just because he’s been forced to work for Monokuma, it doesn’t mean he’s against us.” Fumio smiled. “It’s nice to have someone like him around, I suppose. He’s probably thankful that he was allowed to be around us as well. He has a gentle soul, that’s what I’ve come to believe.”

“You are too kind to but a humble servant, Numajiri-sama.” Motoki smiled contently as he walked into the room, rolling in a cart with fourteen plates on it and began handing them out. “I designed these meals to match your preferences.”

“Wow, that’s amazing! You found out our favourite foods…?” Kotone grinned. “How did you manage that?”

“Monokuma-sama is very thorough in his research on you. I simply asked for a list of your favourite foods, and he gave me the information.” The butler explained. “It did take some convincing though…”

“Well, whatever! Let’s dig in!” Hiroaki grinned. Everyone started to go in for the first bite of their food.

“Hmm?”

“Huh?” Kotone’s and Shin’s eyes widened. The two stood up quickly. “E-everyone, stop! Don’t eat anything!”

“There’s poison in the food!” Poison…? Everyone simultaneously dropped their cutlery. “…Hakamada-kun…what is the meaning of this…?”

“I…I don’t understand…” He seemed dumbfounded, his glasses had tilted. “That food shouldn’t be poisoned…I would never…”

“H-Hakamada-kun tried to poison us…?” Ayame was trembling. “Wh…why…?”

“I didn’t, you must believe me!” His eyes suddenly showed a realisation take place in his mind. “I…see…so that’s what happened…” Motoki pushed his glasses up. “Yes…I tried to poison you all. It was all my doing…”

“Motoki, what are you saying? You just said you didn’t, and now you’re changing your story…?” I knew that someone else was behind this. Someone else had to be.

“Apologies, Sora…I wouldn’t expect you to understand…” He bowed. “Please…dispose of the food in any way you wish. I shall return to Monokuma-sama…once again, I apologise for attempting such a disgusting act…” Motoki walked out of the cafeteria, not giving anyone even a glance. The door shut…

“Why…?” Mamoru mumbled next to me. “Why this…? This day started out so well…”

The school bell rang, and the monitors flashed on. “Hey, bastards! How about that snake of a butler, huh…? Who would have thought that he’d have it in him?! Anyways, that’s not really the issue at hand right now. Everyone get your asses down to the gym! We got some stuff to talk about!” The monitor switched off.

“…looks like this day just went from bad to worse…” Yumiko said ominously. Everything’s been happening so fast lately…just what’s going on…?

\--

We all gathered in the gymnasium, taking our time since we had a sneaking suspicion on what this was about. Monokuma was waiting for us, sitting on the podium with Motoki standing adjacent. “About time, you slowpoke bastards!” Monokuma yelled angrily. “What took so long, huh?! I don’t like to be kept waiting.”

“Hey, we came, didn’t we? Shut yer trap.” Hiroaki said as we all moved closer to the stage. “Just tell us what’s going on so we can go.”

“Geez, hothead, what’s got you so riled up…? Could it be because someone just tried to kill you? Is that it…? Must have been pretty scary to think about how close you were to being killed…” Monokuma chortled.

“Monokuma-sama…” Motoki mumbled to the bear.

“Eh…? Yeah, yeah, I get it.” Monokuma folded his arms. “Alright bastards, you’ve had long enough to relax, so how about we get the ball rolling again?!” Here it comes… “That’s right! It’s time for your next motive!”

“No thanks.” Etsuko declined, getting ready to walk away.

“Y-you can’t just leave without accepting the motive! That’s not how this works, lady!” Monokuma yelled. “Besides, it would be pretty bad if someone else got a hold of your secret…” The choreographer stopped and looked back at the stage with a glare.

“What do you mean ‘secret’…?” She questioned.

“Exactly how it sounds! Your next motive! Butler boy, hand ‘em out!” Monokuma ordered. Motoki nodded, producing fourteen envelopes each marked with our names. He began to hand them all out one-by one. “Inside these envelopes is your biggest, darkest secret. I’m sure you would never want to world to know about.”

“U-urk…” Fumio trembled, the paper from inside the envelope clutched tightly in his hands. “H…how did you…?”

“No…this isn’t true…” Etsuko was shaking as well, but rather than fear, it was out of rage. Everyone had different reactions. Takashi, Chieko, Kotone, Fumio, Ayame, and Mamoru especially were shaking as they read their secrets on the paper. Etsuko, Robyn, Akiko, and Hiroaki were steaming up with rage. And Shin, Yumiko, and Orochi all seemed as calm as ever.

I stared at the envelope for a moment before tearing the top open and taking the paper out. I unfolded the paper and read what Monokuma had written down.

**Sora Nagata covered for a criminal**

That’s…not true…that’s not the truth…

“Now, here’s the real kicker, you guys…if you really want to keep those secrets, well…secret…you’ll murder somebody among you!” Monokuma let out another cackle. “I’ll give you tomorrow to plan and murder somebody, but if somebody isn’t dead by the next day…I’ll reveal all of your secrets!”

“Grk!” Ayame ripped her paper in half, clutching the two pieces in separate hands as she ran out of the gymnasium.

“I-Ichimonji-san! Wait up!” Robyn ran after the gardener. Takashi had collapsed to the floor, ready to burst into tears, Hiroaki desperately trying to comfort him, but to no avail. This…was seriously hectic.

“Sora…” Mamoru shuffled his way over to me, visibly ready to throw up from nerves. He handed me his paper. What…is he doing…? I unfolded it and nearly gasped.

**Mamoru Fukao put a girl in a coma**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally wrote 2/3 of this today, and I'm ready. I'm just ready.
> 
> Don't forget to leave a comment, it really helps me out. Thanks guys.


	14. Blankly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the second motives issued to the students, just how long can they go before another student's life is taken away from them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GAAAAAAAH I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. I've been super busy with all my school work, so I haven't had a whole lot of time to work on this. But I swear I'm still working on this! I refuse to give up on this, okay? I thank you guys for being patient with me!
> 
> Please comment if you liked it or not, or just anything you want to say.

“Uh…” I scratched the back of my head. Mamoru had once again barged into my room unannounced, but…his expression was a lot more solemn than usual. Damn Monokuma and his stupid motives…how did even find that stuff out? And it’s not even technically accurate! So, he’s a liar as well! “…hey…I’m sure it’ll be fine…”

“Don’t say that…please…” Shit…he sounds so broken down. “I’m begging you, Sora…don’t say it’ll be fine. I can’t explain what happened, I don’t want to have to remember what happened. It’s my fault…m-my fault that she-“

“Mamoru.” I sat on the bed beside him. “Nobody blames you for what happened back then…the only reason that whole incident is holding any kind of ‘motive’ over you, is because you don’t want to accept what anybody else says…” It’s time for the Sora Nagata Lecture. “…it’s been 10 years…you have to realise that it wasn’t your fault, or it’s just gonna eat at you until you destroy yourself. Then what? What’s that gonna do for anyone…?”

“B-but…” His hands balled up. “That’s just it…it’s been 10 years, and she’s still…” His voice trailed off. “U…Umeko is still…”

“Umeko will be fine. Understand?” I put my hands on his shoulders and turned him to face me. “…she doesn’t blame you for what happened, remember…? You have no reason to be sad about this…okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration…but you have no reason to keep beating yourself up about it!”

“What about the others?” Oh. So NOW you decide to care about what the others think. “There’s no way they’d believe it…”

“If you want, we can always explain what happened to them, I’m sure they would understand.” I knew he wouldn’t like that suggestion, but frankly, I don’t have a lot of options right now. I just want him to stop being so mopey, it’s not like him.

“Maybe you’re right.” Mamoru sighed a little, his shoulders dropping a little. “It makes you wonder what the others must have kept hidden for this long though, doesn’t it...” The scene of Ayame running out the gym and Takashi breaking down in front of everyone flashed in my mind. Guess some people really did have some demons they wanted to drown.

“U-um…” Mamoru murmured a little, stumbling to find words for a moment. “…thank you, Sora…it means a lot that you still choose to support me like this.”

“Don’t mention it.” I shrugged. “I’m still your friend, despite what you say to the others sometimes. So, if you ever need to talk to someone, I’m still gonna be here for you. You shouldn’t worry about anything else.” I sound like such a sap, honestly, what is up with me?

Mamoru laughed a little, it was a weak laugh, but it was just nice to hear him show genuine amusement. “Did the motive mess with your head? You actually being a supportive human being? What’s the world come to?”

“Excuse you, but I had to be the supportive friend a long time ago because you were too busy bawling your eyes out 80% of the time.” I reminded him. His face reddened a little. “But that’s in the past, right? Let’s live for now.”

“…right.” Mamoru nodded, standing up and walking to the door. “Sora…thank you. Really.” He smiled gently. About as gentle as he could manage anyways. Without another word, he moved out of the room.

\--

“Nee-san!” A voice called out. There were scream everywhere. A car alarm in the distance. The blood spilling on the ground. “Nee-san! Nee-san!” It kept repeating over and over again. As if torturing him. He hated it. Make it stop.

“Sora…” A girl’s voice called out. Broken glasses, shrivelled orange hair. Blood covering half of her face. “Sora…why did you protect him…?” Her one visible eye flew open. “Why protect the one that hurt me?”

\--

I shot up, drenched in a cold sweat. I was trembling heavily, I could feel that my breaths were short, and an uncontrollable anxiety was filtering through me. The shock of my dream…no. My memories. They did this.

…dammit.

\--

“Sora! You look terrible.” Orochi exclaimed as I walked into the cafeteria. So supportive of me. Thank you. Thank you so much. “Did something happen? Couldn’t sleep…?” He put his hand on my shoulder, looking concerned.

“I’m fine.” I lied. “Just woke up a little earlier than usual. I’m not a morning person, y’know…?”

“You’re also not a people person. Or a night person. Or an afternoon person…you’re basically not even a person.” Etsuko remarked. “You’re missing important stuff though, don’t take so long in the shower next time. We were just discussing the event for tonight.”

“Event?” I repeated. “Would you care to elaborate from the start for once, or shall I continue questioning every statement until we finally find out what you’re talking about?”

The choreographer rolled her eyes. “I proposed the idea of a group dance to take place tonight. I figured it would be the safest thing to do considering it would mean we could all keep an eye on each other.” She wasn’t even trying to be subtle about this. She didn’t trust anyone. “Everyone will pair up for the dance, that way nobody can just waltz off without anybody noticing.”

“Not gonna happen.” Hiroaki shook his head. “Hayashi-chan’s came down with a fever. He can’t even get out of bed…I might have to skip out to take care of him.” Etsuko frowned upon hearing this.

“You get a pass.” She sighed. “At least we know where you’ll be. As long as everyone else can go, then there’s no issue. Give Hayashi-kun my best wishes, will you?” The daredevil nodded. “Good…I suppose all that’s left for us is to pair up for the night.”

“Oh! Like dates?!” Ayame suddenly seemed excited. “Aw, it’s like an American prom! I’m getting really excited now!” She certainly was a lot peppier than how she was yesterday after the motives were revealed. That was good. It didn’t suit Ayame to be sad.

“Geez, do we have to do dates?” Akiko asked. “That’s just setting me up for rejection…”

“I’ll go with you, if you want.” Yumiko offered, much to everyone’s surprise. “Two girls will be going with each other no matter what happens. I don’t really see any potential in these boys anyways, so I’d like to go with you.” Akiko paused for a second before giving a wide smile.

“Sure! I’d love to go with you!” The songwriter nodded to the reporter. “Ooo~ I’m gonna go see if there are nice dresses to choose from in the storage room!” She quickly ran out the room before anyone could really respond to her actions.

“Well that was certainly kind of you to offer, Hashimoto-chan.” Orochi commented. “I’m little surprised with how quickly you were to ask her to attend with you though.” Yumiko simply scoffed, running a hand through her short hair.

“What? Are you going to play dumb and tell me you weren’t planning on asking Nagata-kun to go with you? We’re not stupid, Kamisaka-kun. We know what you’re about.” Eh? What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Orochi laughed a little awkwardly, scratching his cheek. “In actuality, I was going to ask Hanabusa-chan to go with me. If she wouldn’t mind, of course.” He smiled at Etsuko, who blushed lightly at the sudden idea.

“Y-you and I?!” She exclaimed. “I don’t understand why you would pick me?!” I never expected her to be the tsundere type. Kinda funny.

“I guess I just want to see what the Super High School Level Choreographer can do up close and personal.” Orochi stuck his tongue out playfully. “Hopefully you wouldn’t mind that?” The sight of Etsuko of all people getting flustered was unusually entertaining to watch.

“F-fine! But only because you were the first to ask!” She suddenly had her condescending smirk back. “Sorry to the rest of you other boys, but I’m always the one who gets picked first. If you hesitate, you’ll lose.”

“Right.” Shin rolled his eyes. “Hutchison-san. How about you? Do you know who you want to go with?” The spy looked over at the redhead. Robyn thought for a second, adjusting her glasses.

“Actually…how about you, Tamuro-kun?” Robyn asked. “I mean, I still have to convince you to be my model, so this might be the best way to do that whilst also getting the most out of the dance.” Shin closed his eyes for a moment, thinking about his options.

“Very well. I was originally going to ask Numajiri-kun, but I’m not a man who would turn down an offer made by a lady.” Wow, what a gentleman. Looks like he’s got his own secret charm that he’s been hiding from everyone else. I couldn’t help but notice Fumio shuffle a little when Shin mentioned his name.

“Then how about Numajiri-kun and Ichimonji-san go together? That would super cute!” Robyn turned to the judge and the gardener who both flushed at the idea. “Come on, you both would be great at a dance, since neither of you actually know how to dance!”

“H-Hutchison-san!” Ayame’s face only went a brighter shade of red. “Y-you shouldn’t just say that out of nowhere!” She pushed her silver hair behind her ear and looked away shyly. “Though…I suppose if Numajiri-kun is okay with it…”

“I don’t mind at all, as long as you’re okay with the arrangement.” This is a man who must have presided over hundreds of horrifying cases in his career as a judge, and yet he can’t even look a girl in eye when he’s being set up with her.

“Then that leaves-“

“I’m going with Ari-chan! No question!” Kotone cut Orochi off, wrapping her arms around the shrine maiden. Chieko let out a small ‘eep’ in surprise. The poor girl is subject to an obvious love. “Then that’ll leave…Fukao-kun and Nagata-kun.”

“Wh-what?!” Mamoru stood up suddenly.

“Yep. Saw that one coming.” I shrugged. “Guess you’re my date for the night.” I grinned at him. This was going to be a _very_ interesting night for me. “Don’t act like you’re not excited about this. We all know you love me in all actuality.”

“Idiot!” Mamoru cried out, ready to lunge at me. Super High School Level Tsundere, that’s for sure. “Th-there’s no way I would feel like! Not a chance!”

“Good god, your double act is painful to watch sometimes.” Yumiko rubbed her temples lightly. “I should go help Sugiyama-san decide what to wear for the dance. I can pick what I’ll wear as well while I’m there.”

“I’ll come with you!” Robyn jumped up following along. The two voices faded off as the cafeteria doors slowly closed behind them after they exited the scene. Orochi sat up and looked over to Etsuko.

“I’m really looking forward to the dance. I hope you’ll show me just how good a dancer you are, Hanabusa-chan.” When he said that, Etsuko seemed to flinch, but only slightly.

“Yes…you’re right.” She stood up and began to walk to the door. “I’m going to prepare the building for the dance. I’ll see you all later.” Briskly, she ran off without saying another word. What was her problem…?

“…urgh…” Mamoru walked over to me, he seriously did look a little frustrated at how everything turned out. “There’s no way around this, is there…? Fine. Come with me.” Without any warning, he seized my arm and dragged me out of the cafeteria. “If we’re going together, you’re at least going to dress nicely for once in your life. I’m not going to be embarrassed by you turning up to a dance in your pyjamas.” Oh, he knows me so well.

“But it’s only twelve people going. You really want to make a fuss over this?” He stopped and looked at me with the usual annoyed expression. Maybe he just had a really bad resting bitch face or something, because nobody should be this angry all the time.

“I just…want you to look nice. I want us to look nice.” He looked away. “If that doesn’t suit your tastes, then too bad for you. You’re not getting a choice in this one.” When he started dragging me around again, I only then noticed that he had moved down to take my hand. 

…

\--

“Alright, let me see…” He had dragged me into his room and had started to shift around in his drawers. Actually, now that I think about it, this is the first time I’ve seen his room. It was pretty much the same as mine, aside from the work desk that was set up in the corner. “…this might work.” He pulled out a white dress-shirt and held it up in front of him.

“You’re gonna make me wear your clothes? Won’t they be a little small on me?” I asked.

“What I lack in height, I make up in build. It’ll fit you, trust me.” Mamoru simply replied as he moved down to the lower drawer after setting the shirt on his bed. “I would look through your drawers for clothes, but I doubt I would find anything nice. You don’t exactly have a sophisticated sense of style.”

“Wow. Thanks.”

“Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me that you actually own proper shirts that one would wear to an interview. Do you even know what a tie looks like? It’s not like you ever wore yours in middle school.” Oh, this bitch-

“Okay, good work reminding me of that, Student Council Presi- oh wait, you were only the damn secretary.” His face flushed when I said that. He hated that being brought up more than anything else.

“That election was rigged, and you know it was! There was no way Umewara should have won that! She had no idea what she was doing as a student council president!” He argued passionately. It was always fun to see him get worked up like this. Guess his Super High School Level Assistant title was brought into consideration when the election was held.

Once he had decided to calm down, he picked out a pair of trousers and laid them next to the shirt. “Alright. You try them on whilst I pick out a tie.” He instructed.

“You’re not gonna peek at me changing, are you?” I grinned a little. Mamoru simply scoffed and knelt down to the bottom drawer. He seriously had one dedicated to ties…? That’s a little sad. “I’ll take that as a ‘no’.” I shrugged, taking of my t-shirt and throwing it onto Mamoru’s bed.

I tried to get changed as quickly as I could, knowing it would only annoy Mamoru if I took my time with it. The shirt actually fit better than I was expecting it to. The sleeves were kind of short, but I could just roll them up. The trousers were the right length, but the belt was a little tight. “Why the hell do you have such a tiny waist?” I whined.

“Hmm?” Mamoru turned to me with a shiny black tie in his hand. “Urgh, I suppose I’ll have to put a new notch in the belt.” He rolled his eyes, grabbing a small pin on top of the set of drawers and walked over to me. He crouched down and grabbed the end of the belt…it would look really weird if someone walked in right now.

He took the pin and pushed it through the brown leather and undid the belt, placing it on the newest outer notch before standing up again. “There. How does that feel?”

“Much better.” I nodded, adjusting the outfit a little. “Though did you have to do my belt for me? I know I’m lazy but be real for a second…” A grin split across my face again. “Unless you were taking that chance to check out what colour underwear I had on~?”

“Y-you’re seriously ridiculous!” Mamoru snapped at me, an obvious blush on his face. Maybe I did actually hit the nail on the head…I kid, of course. There’s no way Mamoru would do that. “Here.” He shoved the tie into my hands. “You know how to put one on, right…?” I simply stared down at the tie and then back up at Mamoru. He let out an annoyed sigh. “Fine. It seems I really do have to babysit you, don’t I?”

He took the tie from my possession and popped my shirt collar up, wrapping the tie around me. I watched as the brunet focused on moving his hands around to do my tie properly.

If I wanted to, I could…

“There.” Mamoru stepped back, admiring his handiwork. “Actually….you look pretty good. If we roll the sleeves up, and style your hair a little, we might just steal the night away from everyone.” I had to stare. It was like he had totally forgotten about the motive we were given. He seemed…happy…

“Mamoru.” I said suddenly, the assistant jumped a little looking at me with surprised eyes. What…what was I planning to say to him…? I don’t really know. “Uh…thanks. I’ll try not to make you look bad tonight.”

“O-oh…of course.” Mamoru nodded. “If you were going to make me look bad, I wouldn’t be going with you. Let’s keep that in mind. My image is very important.” Right. I’m sure your image was the forefront in your mind when you decided to group, but we’re not gonna talk about that, are we? “We still have some time, I suppose. Hanabusa-san is setting up the party…”

“Mmm…” I nodded. “Though she was acting a little weird, don’t you think?”

“…yes. I suppose she was. I suppose if she remembered something…?” He thought. “Maybe I should go check on her…?”

“Have you met Etsuko? If someone disturbs her, she’ll have their head.” I reminded him. “Plus I’d rather just relax until we have to go. I don’t really feel like getting changed back into my clothes, only to eventually get changed back into this. It’s just a hassle.”

“Yes, I suppose you’re right about that much. You may not have a lot going for you, but at least you have your brain.”

“Talk about a backhanded compliment.” I pouted.

\--

-Normal P.O.V.-

Takashi snuck around the performance building. He had left something there yesterday, but he knew that Hiroaki would never let him leave his room in his condition. But he had no choice right now. It was vital that he got it back.

He trudged on. It was struggle for him to move right now, his body just felt heavy and he felt cold all over even though his head was radiating heat.

There was music, though it was a little fuzzy with how his headache was interfering with his senses. But it was still a vivid sound from the dance hall. Takashi moved over to the door and peered inside.

Thud!

Etsuko let out a gasp as she fell onto her left knee. “D-dammit…” She gritted her teeth. “I’ve been doing this over and over again…so why?!” Takashi opened the door and shuffled into the room. Etsuko’s head whipped over, her eyes wide with horror upon seeing the archaeologist standing in the doorway. “H-Hayashi-kun! What are you doing here?! I thought you were sick?!”

“I am…” Takashi let out a series of coughs. “But I needed to get something…f-from here…H-Hanabusa-sama, what are you doing…?” Etsuko seemed at a loss for words. The track that was previously playing had finished, leaving a tense silence between the two individuals.

“I…I’m…” Etsuko struggled for an explanation.

“You look like y-you’re having trouble…”

Etsuko’s eyes flared for a moment. “T-trouble?! Anything but that! I’m the Super High School Level Choreographer! I don’t have trouble with dances! You’re just delusional!” She pointed at him angrily. “It’s probably a side-effect of your condition!”

“B-but…” Takashi weakly pointed at her legs and arms that were all covered in bruises. “Y-you look like you’ve been falling a lot…shouldn’t y-you be alright if y-you haven’t been having trouble…?”

“Th-that’s…” Etsuko was trembling a little as she stood up. For the first time ever, she actually looked vulnerable in front of Takashi of all people. “That’s none of your business, understand?! You didn’t see anything here today, do I make myself clear?!”

“…Hanabusa-sama…” Takashi started cautiously. “I’m not like Nagata-chan, but…you said you don’t like the term ‘natural talent’, right…?” Etsuko’s backed away a little. “…H-Hiroaki-nii said you were acting weird after Kamisaka-chan mentioned getting to dance with you…”

“Hayashi-kun…”

“Hey, Hanabusa-sama…can I ask you something?” He paused.

“Hanabusa-sama…can you actually dance…?”

“A-ah…” Etsuko chocked on her words. “Th-that is…”

“If that was the case, then it would make sense, wouldn’t it…?” He let another few coughs before continuing. “Like how you get angry at things that aren’t ‘real talents’, or how you hate ‘natural talent’…being a choreographer…isn’t the same as being a dancer…”

“…” Etsuko seemed defeated. She didn’t know what to say except. “Y…yes, you’re right. I can’t argue with anything you said.” The choreographer fell to her knees, letting her exhaustion show. “Even if people can be moved by the dances I choreograph for other people…for some reason, it’s like I have two left feet. I hate it. I seriously hate it. It’s not like I was always like this.”

“Really…? So you used to be a dancer…?” Takashi slumped next to her.

“A long time ago…when I was really little. I used to be the best of my academy. People loved to watch me dance. But…then a new girl came along, and everyone shifted their attention to this random stranger that came out of nowhere. So…I tried to outperform her. I was doing flips, twirling way more times than I thought I could. I was working myself to the bone, but I was never better than that girl. Any time I said something about it, it was always the same answer. ‘She just has more natural talent’.”

“So that’s why…” Takashi frowned.

“It wasn’t good enough to stop me though. I kept trying to improve, and I worked day-in, day-out. I was so dedicated…but then…I was injured in a freak accident on stage. My left leg needed surgery. The doctor said that I wouldn’t ever be able to dance again…” Etsuko started mumbling her story, but Takashi could still make it out. “…I hate dancing…but I can’t give up for some reason…which is why I became a choreographer.”

“And you’re the best choreographer ever!” Takashi smiled.

“What does it matter?! I’m not happy about it, am I?!” She snapped back. “It’s not fair!” She stood up. “Why me?! What did I do to deserve everything that happened to me?! All that work I did was for nothing! Nothing!!”

“That’s not true.” Takashi stood up and grabbed Etsuko’s hand. “If all that didn’t happen…then you wouldn’t have become who you are today. You wouldn’t have become the Hanabusa-sama that I admire!”

“A-admire?!”

“Right! You’re so cool, Hanabusa-sama! I want to be just like you! You know how to stand up for yourself, and you’re so dedicated to your work! Archaeology…I dunno. I’m a good archaeologist, sure, but…what’s that really gonna do for me?” He laughed to himself a little.

“…I’m not to be admired. I’m really selfish. All I ever think about is how things are going to affect me. I’m always feeling sorry for myself. It sucks, Hayashi-kun.” Etsuko folded her arms and stared at the floor. “Be your own person, and don’t look to be like others. That’s what I’ve learned from my experience as a dancer. All that happens when you try to imitate someone is that you get hurt. Be proud of your own individual traits…”

“My own individual traits, huh…?” Takashi looked at the palm of his hand. “…you really are amazing…” He mumbled. “I’m still hiding…”

“Hmm?” Etsuko looked down at the short male.

“O-oh, nothing…”

“Well…can I ask you something? You now know what my dark secret was…it was my motive…” Takashi looked at her with wide eyes. “So, if you want…can you tell me your secret, Hayashi-kun?”

\--  
-Sora’s P.O.V.-

“Ah! Fukao-kun!” Robyn waved to us both, Shin locked tightly next to her. “Wow! Nagata-kun! You cleaned up nicely, didn’t you? I guess it’s a good thing Fukao-kun was helping you out, huh?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“She means you dress poorly on your own.” Shin said bluntly.

“D-don’t say it like that!” Robyn frowned. “I didn’t mean it like that, really I didn’t!” She bowed a little with an apologetic expression. “It’s just that you don’t seem to be the type that would choose a dress-shirt over a t-shirt is all.”

“Well…you have me there…” I scratched the back of my neck. I looked at Robyn’s outfit, a short dark blue dress with white outlines on the skirt part. “You look nice.” It was a lazy compliment, but it’s all I could really come up with.

“Oh! Yeah, Sugiyama-san and Hashimoto-san helped me pick it out.” She released Shin from her grip and did a small twirl. “Thank god for those two. They’re real lifesavers. Like, I have no sense of style when it comes to these kind of events.”

“You’re not the only one.” I smiled a little. “Shall we…?” I nodded towards the dance hall. We all walked over to the room and entered, quickly taken aback by the scene. The room had been decorated thoroughly with fairy lights, and a table with a huge bowl of punch. Etsuko managed to set all this up by herself? I’m actually kind of impressed.

“Looks like we’re missing some people.” Shin observed. “Aside from the obvious Yamahata-kun and Hayashi-kun…Hanabusa-san, Ichimonji-san, and Numajiri-kun aren’t here.”

“It’s strange for the person, who’s basically the hostess of the party, to not be present.” Mamoru folded his arms. “Maybe she simply has an errand to run?”

“It’s a bit of a bummer though.” Orochi sighed, walking over to us. “I was really looking forward to Hanabusa-chan’s dancing. I really hope she is just running late, and I haven’t been stood up.”

“I’m sure she’ll be here eventually. Let’s all wait a little until the others get here, alright?” Robyn suggested.

\--

Ten minutes must have passed by now. What was going on…? Where the hell were they all…? “Hey. Sora.” Mamoru nudged me lightly. “Maybe we should go look for them.” I paused at the sight of concern that was hidden in his eyes. I nodded and we quickly left the room before anyone really noticed.

We left the building and heard heavy panting from somewhere nearby. Ayame was slumped against the wall, her skin was pale and she was shaking a lot. “Ichimonji-san! There you are!” Mamoru knelt down beside her. “Where have you been? What’s wrong…?”

The gardener shakily pointed to her left. The garden…?

“Hey! Hey!” We all looked over to Hiroaki who was suddenly approaching us at a serious pace. “Where is he?! Is he here?!” Ayame looked away, clearly trying to avoid Hiroaki’s gaze.

“Yamahata-kun, did something…no. Not the time. Something seems to have happened. Come, follow us!” Mamoru started to lead us all over to the garden, Ayame was making an attempt to stay in the back of the group…what happened?

We all approached the garden to find Etsuko standing in the doorway of the shed. She was completely still, her arms at her side. It was like she was a mannequin modelling a new dress. Her hair even seemed to have been styled for the night into long brown curls. But…she seemed wrong somehow. An obvious discomfort.

“Etsuko…? What happened…?” I asked. The choreographer stepped back and looked at all of us, a stoic expression on her face. It was…different from her normal expressionless look.

“There really is no hope for people here, is there, Nagata-kun…?” She asked. “I’m sorry, Yamahata-kun. I truly am…” She began to walk past us. “I’ve finished my investigation, so you can trigger the announcement now.” Announcement…?

Mamoru and I approached the shed cautiously.

………  
……  
…

**Time seemed to freeze for a second when we saw the sight inside- slumped against the shelf of gardening supplies, his face stained with his own blood, was the Super High School Level Archaeologist, Takashi Hayashi.**

We were all stunned into silence. Takashi…? That kid of all people…?

“Wh…what is this…?” We all looked at Hiroaki who was looking blankly at the scene from behind us. His face was going blue with a look of despair in his eyes. “H-Hayashi-chan…?” He fell to his knees. “Taka-chan…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting back to the murder part of this story, after like 7 chapters. About time, I know. Let's do this people! Investigation is next!
> 
> If you liked, please kudos or comment. It really helps me out.


	15. Locked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the discovery of the second victim, Takashi Hayashi, the investigation into what happened must once again commence.

Everyone gathered outside of the shed after the corpse discovery announcement was made. We all had the same horrified and shocked reactions to Takashi’s death. Wasn’t he supposed to be ill or something? Why did this happen to him? Hiroaki was taking care of him, so why-

“Hey now! Hey now!” Monokuma appeared behind us all. “I see you thinking! Save that for the class trial, buster! It wouldn’t be as fun if you figured everything beforehand, now would it?!” Damn bear, disrupting my train of thought. “Total shame, huh? That Takashi Hayashi is a real ball of sunshine, and now even that little energy ball has been extinguished!”

“Shut up!” Hiroaki snapped. “Shut up! You fucking bastard, this is all because of you!” Shin grabbed the daredevil’s arm before he could lunge at the bear. “Taka-chan didn’t deserve this, you hear me?! He did nothing to deserve this!”

“Yamahata!” Yumiko clicked her fingers to grab his attention. “You need to get a hold of your emotions just for now. If we don’t focus then we’re going to end up like Hayashi…it’s horrible, yes. We’re all hurting…”

“All…?” Hiroaki gritted his teeth. “We’re ‘all’ hurting…? I bet you the bastard that killed him sure as hell isn’t feeling bad about this right about now! All they’re gonna be thinking about is themselves! They…they killed…” He was trembling violently. Nobody could really say anything to comfort him when he was so agitated.

“Well, for now anyways, I guess it’s time for me to help out the only way I can! That’s right, you guessed it! It’s the brand new Monokuma File just made for all of you to enjoy! Take your time! Read as thoroughly as you want!” He began distributing the tablets again, this was just like Haruhi’s murder. “I suppose my work is done! I’ll let you know when it’s time for the class trial to start! Until then, toodles!” And before anyone knew how, Monokuma had vanished.

Silence gripped us all threateningly. Nobody wanted to say anything as if the air were holding knives at our throats ready to cut into us if we chose to spoke. Eventually we all heard a sigh come from Fumio.

“This…won’t do us any good.” The judged concluded. “Yes. Yes, of course we’re sad about Hayashi-kun…but we can’t stand around here and mourn. We don’t have that option right now. We have to act and find the killer.”

“Numajiri-kun is right.” Shin agreed. “Hanabusa-san isn’t here though, that’s my only concern.”

“She already investigated the crime scene.” I spoke up. “She checked everything out before the corpse discovery announcement was made. She’s always a few steps ahead of us, huh…?” Mamoru scoffed at that.

“She’s hardly ahead.” He crossed his arms. “Come now. Let’s split up and figure out exactly what happened. The sooner we find out the truth to this murder, the better.” Everyone nodded in agreement at this. “Alright…Ichimonji-san is in too much distress to watch over the crime scene this time around, and Hutchison-san is keeping her company…very well. Yamahata-kun. Hashimoto-san. Can you two watch over the crime scene?”

“I’ll do my best to make sure nobody does anything to tamper with the evidence.” Yumiko nodded. Hiroaki didn’t respond but he nodded along with the reporter. When the arrangements had been made everyone began to scatter about, aside from myself and the four who weren’t going to be moving from the crime scene anytime soon; Yumiko, Hiroaki, Robyn, and Ayame, I mean.

I guess I’d better start with the Monokuma File. I scrolled up on the tablet and like last time I was greeted with a full body portrait of Takashi with his miscellaneous details listed at the side. Name- Takashi…huh? No surname? I suppose we would all know it by now…Blood Type O+. Birthday May 2nd, Taurus. Male. 5’0”. There were blood-coloured splotches across his chest area, which seemed to be his only injury.

I scrolled up again to read the information of his death. “Time of death- 8:40-8:50. Cause of death was internal bleeding. Victim has no external injuries.” I blinked a few times when I read it. He had no external injuries, but was bleeding internally…hmm…

“Nagata-kun.” Yumiko caught my attention suddenly, she was gesturing me to join her and Hiroaki inside the shed. I paused before walking into the crime scene. The sight of Takashi propped up against the shelves was…distressing to say the least. “It would be best if you looked at the crime scene right away. You’re our best hope of solving this murder.”

“Don’t put so much pressure on me.” I retorted. “I don’t do well under stress, in case you forgot the other trial.” Maybe that was a bit of a forceful way to say it, but I needed to get my point across with as little words as possible. “Anyway...let’s take a look, I guess…” I knelt down beside Takashi’s body. There were trails of blood leaking from his mouth, so he must have coughed or vomited some up when he died.

There were also drops of blood around his eyelids and on his forehead, even on his neck and clothing…but if that’s the case then…

I felt around the chest area- where the Monokuma File showed he was fatally injured. His ribs felt…broken…that must be why he doesn’t have external injuries. The cause of death was caused through something that broke his ribs, it’s likely the bone could have pierced his heart as well. Though…what the hell could have been used to do that kind of damage?

Now that I think about it, Takashi was ill, wasn’t he…? Why did he decide to come here…? He must have had a reason for coming here in such bad condition. Not to mention he could have just sent Hiroaki in his stead if he simply dropped something…

There was also small puddles of water around the centre of the room. And Takashi’s skin was slightly wet as well. It had been a while since the water was spilled, clearly, but it was still there…I wonder if it happened during the murder…

“Oi! Hiroaki!” I turned to the daredevil who had just been staring off into space. He closed his eyes for a moment before looking at me awaiting whatever I had to say to him. “You were looking after Takashi before now, right? How did he manage to get away from you without you noticing until now?”

“T...Taka-chan…he fell asleep around 6:00, I think. So, I left him for a while so he could rest without me disturbing him. I came back a few hours later and he was gone. So I started searching the building and then I ran out here and that’s when I ran into you guys.” He explained. A few hours…it was more than 3 then. Because if he fell asleep at 6, and he died around 8:50… “I don’t get it...why the hell would he leave his room?! Nothing makes sense in this! This fucking sucks!” His hands were shaking. I…I’ve never seen this guy vulnerable before. “Wh…why Taka-chan…?”

“There’s no reason.” Yumiko shook her head. “There’s no reason it had to be him. In the end, the killer must have simply chose him because he would be the easiest target at the time. But that’s not what I would consider a ‘reason’. This was merciless. I won’t forgive the person that did such a horrible thing to someone in such a vulnerable state.

“Well his ribcage was broken so whatever the killer used, it must have been heavy. Either that or the killer has one hell of a swing.” Yumiko looked at me strangely when I said that.

“You can tell all that just from the examination of his body…?” The reporter pushed her hair behind her ear. “I’m impressed, truly. It’s almost as if you knew everything before even stepping onto the crime scene.” She wasn’t gonna accuse me of being the killer again, was she…? “No matter. I have noticed a few things as well.”

“Oh…?” She had caught my interest.

“There were a lot of strange tools that were being contained here, you see. Rakes, shovels, even a sledgehammer with a rather bulky hammer part and a long wooden shaft. Honestly, I feel like Monokuma threw it in here as a potential weapon rather than for gardening. You can’t really use a sledgehammer for gardening, after all.” Yumiko sighed.

“I suppose you could pound the soil or something with it.” Hiroaki shrugged. “Find use for anything these days, so why not?” I looked over at the shelf of gardening tools, and couldn’t help but notice that the sledgehammer Yumiko mentioned was no longer present. That must have been what she noticed.

“No matter…there’s something I have to make note of. Namely…” She pointed to the ceiling. Hiroaki and I both looked up. To my surprise, there was small traces of blood on one of the tiles that made up the ceiling. One of the bloodstains even seemed to be in the shape of a finger. “I wonder how significant that is…” 

Speaking of blood stains. There’s blood in the centre of the room as well…but it looks like something was dragged through it.

“Probably very important…” I thought out loud. There were already a few things that seemed blatantly obvious even before I left the shed. This killer isn’t exactly the craftiest person alive, are they? My eyes glanced over to the bags of mulch. They were pretty close to the door, I finally noticed. One of them had even burst open, there was mulch pouring onto the ground. This definitely isn’t the cleanest of crime scenes, is it?

But other than that…”Alright. I’ve seen all I can.” I announced. “I can make a good guess at the weapon and the culprit’s movements…but I’m not really sure who the culprit is yet. It’s pretty much the reverse situation of how the investigation went when Ryokai was the killer.” I sighed at the memory of that trial. “Whatever though…I’ll do my best to figure out what happened, alright? Gotta run. Good luck to you two…” I lazily waved as I left the shed.

Ayame and Robyn were still sat by the wall outside, Ayame’s eyes as empty as bottomless pits. Now that I think about it, Ayame and Fumio didn’t turn up to the party. Neither did Etsuko, but that was because she was investigating Takashi’s body, right…? But where was she before then? I gotta go and find all three of them. What a pain in the ass…

“Ayame. Robyn.” I called out their names, their heads slowly looking up at me. Robyn had a saddened expression showing her concern for her friend. The gardener’s eyes really weren’t empty. Unlit. Uncharacteristically Un-Ayame. “Sorry to bother you guys but I really need to talk to you two right now. It’s for the sake of the investigation.” God, I sounded like an actual detective when I talked like that. Gross. “Ayame, you weren’t at the party before the murder, so I need to confirm on where you were. “

“O-oh…I see…” Ayame mumbled. “I was getting ready, you see…and I must have head over here around 8:50…and I went to the garden because I wanted to adjust the graves I made for Matsushina-san and Araki-kun. Then when I was going back to the building to join the party, I saw Numajiri-kun standing at the shed door. He looked terrified, and when he saw…when he saw me, he ran away, so when I looked inside…I saw Hayashi-kun’s body. I instantly screamed…I think. It’s slightly blurry. But I remember Hanabusa-san coming over after I screamed. Then she began to investigate and told me to get you all once I regained my composure. Then I ran into you and Fukao-kun…and you know the rest.”

It seemed like a plausible story…I’m gonna need to check out what Etsuko and Fumio have to say about that though. Just to be on the safe side. “Thanks, Ayame. It’ll help a lot.” The silver haired girl nodded, twiddling the key on her beaded necklace with her delicate hands. That…

\--

I walked into the grand hall of the performing arts building. If my hunch was right then there’s an area in particular worth checking out. The hall was almost empty, though Shin was walking around the place inspecting the smaller areas of the hall like behind paintings and in the potted plants. I doubt there’ll be evidence in places like that, but I guess it’s better to look…

I walked up the grand staircase and went along the east side of the upper floor. The prop room at the end of the hall was left open, which is kinda weird. I heard a small yelp as Etsuko fell onto her ass, tumbling out of the prop room. I couldn’t help but grin as the choreographer got up, not yet realizing I had just witnessed all that.

“…oi! Etsuko!” I called out, making the girl jump. Her face flushed instantly as she knew that I had seen her fall. “Did you have a nice trip?”

“Oh shut up!” She growled. “Shouldn’t you be investigating right now? What are you doing up here…?” What kind of logic- “And before you ask, I actually do have a reason for being up here. I was looking for certain clues.”

“So was I, actually.” I frowned. It would be nice to have some faith in me. “And besides, I needed to talk to you anyways. I have a few questions for you about your movements before the murder occurred.” Etsuko’s eyebrow arched at this, clearly she believed I was thinking that she was the killer.

“I already mentioned it when I left the cafeteria this morning, right? I was setting up the hall for the dance. That took me a good few hours, I was there until 7-ish. Then I went back to my room to get ready for the party.” That seemed…suspicious.

“You left to set up the party at around 9 or so. You’re trying to tell me it took 10 hours to set yp the party?” Etsuko visibly flinched upon realising what she said.

“W…well…I took breaks, obviously. Plus I had to practice my dancing. I couldn’t have disappointed Kamisaka-kun, now could I?” Her condescending smirk quick taking its regular place. “…also, I suppose Hayashi-kun came along at one point as well. Though we only talked for a few minutes, then he left.”

“So Takashi did come here on his own.” I mulled over the fact. “Did he actually mention why he came out here? Or did he just refuse to tell you about it?”

“He said that he dropped something. Never mentioned what it was. Clearly it was important if he couldn’t just send Yamahata-kun to get it for him.” She was still hiding something, I could tell…but it was probably best not to ask further.

“Did you notice anything important during your investigation of the crime scene? Something that could be useful for the investigation. Anything will do.” I was getting pretty into this. Maybe I should become a detective or something once all of this is over. Etsuko ran a hand through her curled hair and hummed as she thought.

“I…suppose you probably already noticed things like the blood on the ceiling and the fact that Hayashi-kun was killed with something heavy and blunt. Though those mulch bags, didn’t they seem like they were knocked over by something?”

“You think so? Like what? Somebody accidently bumped into them and they fell over?” She shook her head.

“More like…they were stacked beforehand to block something. I think they might have been used to block the door. Though if that was the case, then it would make Hayashi-kun’s murder a locked room. The killer would have had to be the one that blocked the door with the mulch bags, and it would have been strange for them to do that to just knock them over right away. But there’s no windows. That door is the only way out.”

“Then the killer had to be in the crime scene when it was discovered, is that what you’re saying?” She nodded in response.

“There was also a separate stack of mulch bags that were never knocked down. Nearer the edge of the wall…I’m wondering if they’re connected to the case.” Etsuko said. A moment passed and she shook her head. “No matter. I should continue my investigation. Good luck to you, Nagata-kun.” She nodded, walking past me.

I took a glance into the room Etsuko had just tumbled out of. There were stacks of props everywhere, which was to be expected. Though there was also a few, rather large, metal buckets and even a set of taps. This was where Takashi and Hiroaki filled up that bucket and dumped it onto Ayame. Idiots.

I walked to the end of the hallway, over to the window and slid it open. Looks like I remembered correctly. The way the shed was built, you could hop onto its roof by climbing out of this window. I climbed out and walked along the roof to where I believe the handprint on the ceiling would be. Kneeling down, I traced a finger along the lines of the tiles and felt a small indent at one of them. I set my hands in place, and much more ease than I was expecting, the surprisingly light tile slid out of its position in the ceiling.

I looked down into the shed below and saw Yumiko looking back up at me with wide surprised eyes. “Nagata-kun…? What are you doing up there?”

“Proving that my theory was right.” I grinned. That handprint on the underside of this tile meant someone was trying to escape through the ceiling. It was too easy to figure out, I remember it being used in a riddle one time. The hole it left was pretty big as well, anybody could fit down it if they wanted to. Even if this doesn’t narrow down who the killer could be…I have an idea of how most of the crime went down now. “I’ll leave you guys to this then!” I slid the tile back into its place and climbed back into the window.

“Nagata-kun?” I looked behind me and found Akiko standing in the hallway. Her purple hair was braided and brought over her shoulder, falling to her chest. “What were you doing out there…? Did you find something useful for the investigation?”

“Yeah, I guess you could say that.” I shrugged, not wanting to give away too much. “How about you? Anything stand out to you…?”

“Hmm…” She put a finger to her lip in thought. “I guess…there was one thing…but I don’t want to tell you it just yet.” The songwriter smiled. “I could be a real conclusive piece of evidence, you know? I don’t want to give you it just in case you’re the killer. Not that I actually suspect you, but anything is possible.” Akiko giggled a little. “You have any ideas about what happened…? I’m not really getting anything.”

“I have a fair idea.” I half-mumbled. “Though I could be wrong. The killer’s identity is still a little bit of a mystery to me. This is a little more complex than Haruhi’s murder.” Akiko sighed upon hearing that.

“We’ll just have to try our hardest to uncover the truth when we get to the trial.” She said, crossing her arms.

“You’re right…oh. Have you tried checking out the third floor yet?”

“I wanted to, but the door was locked.” Said Akiko. Locked? The door had a lock? “Numajiri-kun never mentioned anything about a lock though. Neither did Tamuro-kun, or anyone else. But there was a lock on the door.” If it was locked…then somebody must have the key to unlock it.

Ah…

The sound of the school bell rang throughout the building, the monitors flashing on. “Alright, bastards, that’s your time up! Time for you all to head to the same place as before! Red door in the dorm building! Make it snappy as well, I don’t like waitin’!”

\--

We all eventually gathered in the small room before the elevator. Arriving, we stumbled on Motoki waiting for us in front of the elevator. “…well then.” He started, clearly not wanting to look at any of us. He must still have the incident with the poison in the forefront of his mind. “If you could all make your way onto the elevator, we may descend to the trial.”

A few were hesitant to step anywhere near the butler, but we had no choice. I was the first to move, which probably surprised a few, though everyone else still followed suit. Motoki stepped into the elevator and pressed the button to go down. A shudder and the feeling of going down became noticeable.

…Takashi Hayashi. The Ultimate Archaeologist. A cheerful upbeat kid that really was just trying to make some friends. He had already been hurt by what happened with Ryokai…and then he was killed like that?!

Not to mention the killer targeted him when he was at his most vulnerable. Was someone’s secret just so important that they decided they had to kill for it?! Who the hell do they think they are?!

Hope and Despair don’t matter to me…they really don’t. I just want the killer to get what’s coming to them.

Damn…I’m gonna give myself another fucking headache…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like the identity of the killer is much easier to figure out this time. Like...I really could have tried harder.
> 
> But luckily its a class trial chapter next so it shouldn't take as long as chapters usually take! Stay with me guys! I'm glad you're all being patient!
> 
> Also please comment or give me a kudos because it really keeps me motivated to keep writing!


	16. Keys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The curtains rise of the second class trial. Just who is the killer of Takashi?

As the elevator screeched to a silencing halt, the doors slid open, the lights attacking our eyes. The room was redecorated to look like some kind of underground tunnel. There were fossils in the walls and dirt around the floor. He really is making these themes based on who dies.

I took my space at the circle of podiums alongside everyone else. Monokuma let out a small laugh. “Alright! Let’s begin with a simple explanation of the class trial! You guys are gonna debate on various topics relating to the murder that took place and vote for ‘whodunnit’! If you pick the right person, only the blackened will receive punishment! However…if you pick the wrong person, I’ll punish everyone besides the blackened! What fun, what fun!”

“Those are still horrible rules…” Motoki sighed.

“Yeah, tell that to everyone you tried to kill, buckaroo!” Monokuma’s claws sharpened. “Anyways! You guys remember that little skyrocket to the heavens from the last trial! Well get ready for something even weirder!” Monokuma slammed a button on the arm of his throne. There was a loud rumble, knocking a few of us off balance.

Suddenly doors around the perimeter of the room opened up, revealing a number of bulldozers. You know that moment you pretty much give up trying to make sense of things? Yeah, this was that moment. The bulldozers lifted the trial stands into the air, along with Monokuma’s throne, Motoki sitting on the arm of the throne. “What the hell is this?!” Mamoru demanded. “What the hell happened to just putting the stands in the air?!”

“I was thinking about it, and it would be bad if someone jumped off there before their execution, though I still wanted that cool look of the trial, so this was my compromise! Upupupu! So exciting!”

“Kinda dumb, actually.” Akiko frowned.

“Nobody asked you, washboard.” Monokuma retorted. Akiko’s face flushed as she put her arms across her chest. “Anyways, you guys know how this works, so you’d better get on with it already!”

“Alright!” Hiroaki slammed his fist down on his stand. “Which one of you assholes did it, huh?! Come on, make it easier now!”

“Look, we get that you’re angry, but nobody is just gonna fess up to the crime like that.” Robyn pushed her glasses up. “You know from last time that we have to draw out the killer. If they were gonna confess then they wouldn’t have killed anyone in the first place.”

“Yeah…but they didn’t kill just anyone…” Fumio said.

“They killed Hayashi-kun. That in itself is strange, don’t you think?” Ayame continued on. “I mean…Yamahata-kun was supposed to be looking after him because he was feeling ill, right? Why did he end up in the garden shed in that state? Maybe he faked his illness?”

“No, he wouldn’t have any reason to do that.” Shin shook his head. “What we should really be asking is what his reasons were for leaving his room. Though…before that. We need to establish the murder weapon.”

“Tamuro-kun is right.” Mamoru nodded. “Needless to say, the state of Hayashi-kun’s body was…odd.” Orochi pulled out the Monokuma File and skimmed across the information.

“Yeah…you’re right. He had no external injuries, yet he died from internal bleeding.” He put his ElectroID away. “So what exactly could do that sort of damage?”

“Obviously it had to be something that wouldn’t leave any marks on his skin!” Robyn smiled confidently. “Naturally, the killer must have poisoned him!”

“No, that’s wrong.” I objected. “The killer didn’t poison Takashi…probably…not like we can actually test for poison…but there’s a much more reasonable answer for how he had been killed. When I looked at Takashi’s body, I could feel that his ribcage had been broken by something heavy and blunt. So…I’m pretty sure that the killer used something heavy to kill him.”

“That seems fair…” Etsuko nodded. “But what exactly could they use? There wasn’t exactly many things with enough force…I’m not sure what the murder weapon actually could be.”

“Maybe it was a shovel? Or a rake? It’s probably something that was in the garden shed, right?” Akiko asked. “Plus…it had to be something that was something that you could effectively swing at his chest, you know? So it would mean the killer had to be a fair bit taller than Hayashi-kun. Around Kamisaka-kun’s height I would say.”

“Y-you’re not accusing me, are you?!” Orochi suddenly exclaimed.

“Of course not. I was helping you get ready for the party around the time Hayashi-kun was murdered.” Akiko rolled her eyes. “Hashimoto-san can back me up.”

“Right. You also helped me get into my dress.” Yumiko nodded. “I should really thank you for that sometime soon, Sugiyama-san.”

“Can you guys focus on the damn trial?” Hiroaki growled. “So we know that the killer swung something heavy at Taka-chan’s chest, alright?! Then what the hell was the murder weapon?!” …well…

“Hold on a second.” I mumbled. “What position was Takashi in when he was killed? I think we might need to know that if we want to figure out what exactly happened in that shed.” A few odd stares were sent my way. I guess I haven’t exactly explained what I mean. “Okay…let’s look at like this- Takashi’s hit in the chest with whatever the murder weapon was, and that broke his chest, and punctured his heart. What’s the natural reaction to that…?”

“He’d fall back, duh.” Kotone rolled her eyes.

“He would cough up blood first.” Etsuko added in. “That’s what you mean, right…? If your heart is punctured, you’d cough up blood as reaction…ah…there wasn’t enough blood on the ground.” Clever girl…

“Right. If Takashi was standing upright when he died, there would have been blood all around on the floor of the shed. By all the blood was on his face and clothes.” I paused. “Naturally…Takashi had to be lying down when he was killed!”

“Lying down…that does make.” Shin nodded. “However, what exactly does that change? The killing method was still the same. The killer simply struck down on Hayashi-kun when he was on the ground.”

“But why was Hayashi-kun on the ground in the first place?” Chieko asked. “He must have been knocked down first, right? The killer could have hit Hayashi-kun first, which would have made him pass out-“

“No, that’s wrong!” I yelled out. Maybe I was getting a little too into this, because if Mamoru is getting amused by watching me, then I must be doing something out of character. “Look at the Monokuma File. It’s pretty clear when you look at Takashi’s injuries that he was only hit once. There was no bruises on his skin either. He was only hit hard enough to be considered an injury once.”

“Then what? The killer pushed him?” Kotone asked.

“Possibly…though I’m sure Sora has a very different idea in mind.” Orochi smirked.

“…you could say that. But it’s only a theory. It can also start us on figuring out what the weapon is.” I stated. “Alright…let’s take a second to consider a few things. If Takashi was pushed, what his next reaction be?”

“He’d try to stand, obviously.” Fumio said. I nodded towards the judge and paused, trying to pick my words carefully.

“Alright…next. Was he pushed down, or was knocked down?” There were a few confused looks when I asked that. That was to be expected, it’s a strange question. “Like…did the killer use their hands to knock Takashi down, or did they use an item?”

“Does it matter?” Hiroaki frowned, scratching the back of his neck. “Taka-chan was still pushed down by the killer.”

“It could change a few things depending on the answer.” I mumbled. “…fine. I think he was knocked over with an item, rather than the killer’s hands. Next question- why do you think they used an item?” I was greeted with a few more confused look.

“…ah.” Yumiko seemed to be hit with a sudden realisation. “Could it be that the killer couldn’t actually reach Hayashi-kun? Then they used the item to increase their reach?”

“Couldn’t reach him?” Ayame tilted her head. “But Hayashi-kun was right in front of them, right? Not to mention his sickness would have made it hard for him to run away from the killer.” She had a point…

“Then obviously the killer wasn’t standing in front of Hayashi-kun when he was knocked down.” Etsuko stated. “You were thinking the same thing, Nagata-kun. I know you were. After all…there’s evidence of the killer being in a certain place where they would need an item to reach Hayashi-kun to knock him down.”

“…the roof of the shed.” I nodded.

“What?” Akiko questioned my statement. “Hold on a second, how the heck could the killer have hit Hayashi-kun, who was in the shed, whilst they were on the roof?! That doesn’t make any sense.” The songwriter folded her arms.

“Well there was evidence of the killer knowing a way from inside the shed to the roof.” I murmured. “There was a bloodstain on one of the tiles of the ceiling in the shed. One of the bloodstains was in the shape of a fingerprint. Obviously Takashi couldn’t have made that imprint, so naturally it had to be the killer.”

“Right. The removable tile…” Hiroaki recalled. “Honestly, your hunches are a little too spot on for my liking…” The daredevil ran a hand through his hair. “But…that still doesn’t really change anything…”

“It would change the way the killer attacked, actually.” Mamoru spoke. “The killer obviously couldn’t swing down on Hayashi-kun if they were on the roof. Then the way of attack…they dropped onto him with great force!”

“Not so fast!” Kotone objected. “You freaking wish it was that easy to figure out! The killer obviously attacked him when they were both in the shed! Droppin’ something wouldn’t kill him!”

“There was a sledgehammer that went missing from the shed, right? I’m sure if the killer threw that down upon the helpless Hayashi-kun, then-“

“Sorry, bucko, but that ain’t possible!” Monokuma suddenly interrupted. Oh what now? “See the thing about that missing sledgehammer…it isn’t even real! Upupupupu!”

“Huh?!” Fumio slammed his gavel on the stand in front of him. “What’s the meaning of this, Monokuma?! Of course that sledgehammer was real! Wasn’t it the murder weapon?!”

“Eh…? Nobody ever said that. But if you really want to know, the sledgehammer is actually a prop from the second floor rooms!” A prop…then there’s no way it could be the murder weapon. Not that I really thought it was in the first place…

“Heh!” Kotone grinned. “Like I was saying! This means the killer had to be in front of Hayashi-kun when they were killing him! There was nothing that was heavy enough to kill him by being dropped from above! Your theory falls through!”

“Sorry, but you’re wrong.” Etsuko suddenly spoke with an unnerving calmness. “…there was something that the killer could have used to drop on Hayashi-kun. See, in the prop rooms on the second floor, there were metal buckets along with huge sinks.” So she realised it as well…? Can’t say I’m not impressed. “If the killer filled up one of those buckets with water, then it would weigh enough to kill Hayashi-kun from above.”

“Do those sinks even have running water?” Fumio questioned.

“Oh. They do. Isn’t that right, Yamahata?” Robyn glared at the tall boy who simply avoided eye-contact with the rest of the group. “The point is, that theory does make a degree of sense.”

“But if the killer did that, wouldn’t there be a lot of water at the crime scene?” Ayame asked. “There was a little, if I remember, but not a lot. The bucket would have fallen off of Hayashi-kun’s body after it fell…so it’s strange.”

“Then they must have used something to stabilise the bucket for when it fell.” Shin folded his arms. “That way it wouldn’t spill its contents as much. The killer obviously was trying to hide their method of killing.”

“Then what did they use to stabilise it…?” That question was simple enough.

“They used their own body.” I answered Chieko’s question. “If the killer stepped into the bucket then they would have been able to stay on balance when they jumped down onto Takashi.”

“Climbing into the bucket…but, in that position…wouldn’t the killer get blood on themselves? Hayashi-kun coughed up blood as a result of his injury, at least some must have gotten on the killer.” Shin pointed out.

“Yeah…they couldn’t exactly walk around like that.” Akiko nodded. “I was the first person to turn up at the party…I got there around 9. But I didn’t see anyone on the way over there. So the killer couldn’t have snuck back to their room to change…so what happened…?”

“Didn’t see anyone? That’s super suspicious!” Robyn exclaimed taking a moment to think. “…ah! I get it! I know who the killer is!” Everyone looked over at the artist. “…that must be it…Numajiri-kun! I say you killed Hayashi-kun!”

“M-me?!” Fumio cried. “What kind of joke is this?”

“Nagata-kun, you remember what Ichimonji-san told us, right? When she finished gardening, she saw Numajiri-kun run away from the shed in a panic! That must mean you killed Hayashi-kun, and ran away because you didn’t want to become a suspect!”

“That’s insane!” Fumio yelled back at her. “I mean…yes, I saw Ichimonji-san…but I discovered the crime scene! I didn’t kill anyone! I discovered the crime scene, and when I saw her approach, I panicked and bolted, I didn’t even shut the shed door. I was hiding away until the corpse discovery announcement went off.”

“Then why didn’t Ichimonji-san come and find anyone after she discovered the scene…?” Shin asked.

“I was petrified when I found Hayashi-kun…I couldn’t move. I slumped against the wall until Hanabusa-san came along and found me later.” Ayame explained. To be fair, her frail personality does make that believable. “Then she helped me up, and sent me to find the rest of you…that’s when I ran into Nagata-kun…”

“Right. What she says is true. Those are the events that took place…” Etsuko confirmed.

“…geez…I don’t know what to make of all that…” Hiroaki frowned. 

“For now, I feel like we still have to discuss something else. Something much more important. What did the killer do after they killed Hayashi-kun?” Orochi asked. “If we can answer that…I feel like we might know who the killer is out of our three suspects- Hanabusa-chan, Ichimonji-chan, and Numajiri-kun.”

“Wait, why are we the suspects?!” Etsuko growled.

“Isn’t it obvious? The corpse discovery announcement goes off after three people discover they body. However, all three of you claim to have discovered the crime scene. One of you has to be lying, and therefore be the killer we’ve been looking for.” Orochi explained. “Simple, yet deadly reasoning, wouldn’t you say?” He paused. “Well…let’s start with this. Numajiri-kun, you claim to be the first to discover the crime scene, let’s hear what you have to say for yourself.”

“E-eh…? Well…alright then.” The judge nodded. I never got the chance to hear Fumio’s testimony, so this is actually pretty good for me. “Let me think…I was walking to the performing arts building, and I was about to go in, but then I heard a scream come from the garden area. Nervously, I went to investigate and deduced that the scream I heard came from the shed. I tried to open the door, but something was jamming it from the inside. So I had to throw my body against it a few times before it opened. That’s when I discovered Hayashi-kun’s body. I…froze…but I don’t know how long I must have been sitting there frozen stiff. I’m a judge, and yet…I was scared of a crime scene?! What a joke…”

“And that was when Ichimonji-san came along…?” Akiko asked, to which Fumio nodded. “Hmm…did that help in any way?”

“It does, actually.” Orochi nodded, a sly smile plastered on his face. “Numajiri-kun, you said you had trouble opening the door, right? Because something was blocking it? What exactly do you think was blocking it?”

“I…I don’t know. I didn’t really focus anywhere else except Hayashi-kun’s body.” Fumio replied.

“It was the bags of mulch that were stacked up, right?” Yumiko guessed. “The killer used those mulch bags to block the door, probably thinking someone might have heard Hayashi-kun’s scream after killing him. If that’s the case…then the bags of mulch that were stacked underneath the loose tile must have been used for the killer to escape.”

“The killer must have took the sledgehammer with them then. It had to disappear for some reason. They must have used it to knock over Hayashi-kun and then dropped down on him with the bucket. Then they stacked the mulch bags, and escaped with the bucket and sledgehammer.” Mamoru summed up.

“Fun fact about that sledgehammer!” Monokuma suddenly piped up. “That’s actually a replica of a sledgehammer a former Hope’s Peak student used! It even has the engraving ‘Jessie’ on it! What kind of person names a sledgehammer, anyways? What a weirdo!”

“Quit trying to derail our train of thought!” Akiko snapped. “Ugh…where were we…? Oh! After the killer escaped from the shed, what did they do? Their clothes were bloody, right…? They couldn’t walk around like that. They would be noticed right away.”

“They must have hid their clothes somewhere.” Shin guessed. “But there wasn’t anywhere we could find them.” To be fair, last I saw you, you were investigating a plant, so you get no opinion in that regard.

“No, that’s wrong.” I objected. “There was one place that the killer could have hidden their clothes without us being able to find them- the third floor. That door is locked right now, remember? Nobody was able to check up there during the investigation.”

“He’s right.” Akiko nodded. “I tried going up there to check, but I couldn’t get in through the door…hey, Monokuma. You could open that door for us, right?”

“Eh…? Of course not!” Monokuma replied cheerfully. “Unfortunately, that door only has one key, and it ain’t in my possession right now!”

“It isn’t?! Dammit! What the hell are we supposed to do?!” Hiroaki complained.

“I even went through the trouble of finding evidence for all this…” Akiko sighed. Right…she did mention that she found something that could prove to be conclusive. “…I guess thinking about it now, it’s not that big of a deal.” She bug into her breast pocket and pulled out a small golden bead. “It was at the foot of the door, but…I guess it isn’t as conclusive as I thought.”

“On the contrary…I think you just finished off Sora’s theory.” Orochi smiled. I looked at everyone, my eyes scanning them all individually.

“Yeah… **here’s everything that happened in this case!** ”

“First this all started when Takashi had finished speaking with Etsuko at the drama building. As we all know from Etsuko’s testimony, he was looking for something- most likely the paper that had his motive on it, if I had to guess. He didn’t want anyone to find out what his secret was which is why he went despite his condition. When he was looking around, he was actually being followed by someone else- the killer.

“The killer was probably planning on killing Etsuko, but when they saw how easy a target Takashi was, they decided to switch plans. They waited for Takashi to reach somewhere they could easily pounce on him. When they realised he was heading for the garden shed, they had to think fast.

“The killer sprinted up the stairs and burst into one of the prop rooms and grabbed two things, a fake sledgehammer, and a metal bucket. They filled the bucket up and climbed out the window at the end of the hall and onto the roof of the garden shed. They took off the fake tile on the roof and waited for Takashi to appear below.

“When they saw Takashi, they took the fake sledgehammer and swung down on him. Normally it probably wouldn’t have done much, but because of his weakened state, the force was enough to knock him onto his back. Next, the killer did something they probably didn’t even think would work. They stepped into the metal bucket with water and with one leap- they used the combined force of their own body weight and the weight of the filled bucket to land on Takashi’s chest, breaking his ribcage.

“Next, the killer had to think fast, hearing someone approaching fast. They moved around the mulch bags to block the door and then used the other mulch bags to help them get back out of the shed. Obviously, they needed to move Takashi’s body which was in the way, which is why we found him propped against the shelf. Then they took the bucket and sledgehammer and climbed out, moving the tile back into place.

“The killer then got back into the drama building. They had to hide the evidence so they went to one of the few secure locations they knew- the third floor. The dumped the bucket and sledgehammer, along with their bloodied clothes there and changed into clothes they had prepared beforehand. Then they grabbed the key to the door, and locked the door so nobody would be able to find the evidence. Though they made the mistake of not noticing the bead that fell of their necklace when they were attaching the key to their necklace so they could hide it in plain sight.

“Isn’t that one hell of a convoluted plan…? I actually have to question why you went through all that trouble… **Ayame Ichimonji!** ”

Everyone went silent, slowly turning to the paled gardener. “Th…that’s…” Her voice was shaky. “I…I never…killed anyone…that’s insane.”

“You have a key right on your necklace. A necklace decorated with beads, at that. If anything, it’s about the sanest argument we have right now. But you don’t seem to have a response to it.” Ayame paused, her face was slowly darkening.

“Hutchison-san…you believe me, right…? Do you think I’m the killer…?”

“Of course not! Ichimonji-san wouldn’t hurt a fly!” Robyn cried out. “I refuse to accept this, Nagata-kun! Ichimonji-san is innocent! You have no evidence! Show me proof that she killed Hayashi-kun, because I can guarantee that there isn’t any! Numajiri-kun or Hanabusa-san has to be the killer! They have to be!”

“That’s enough!” I cut her off. “…Ayame. If you aren’t the killer, then let me test that key on your necklace. If it can unlock the door to the third floor, then we’ll know that you’re guilty…if it doesn’t then the trial can continue, right? Let me use the key, Ayame.”

The gardener stared at me for a while. A sigh escaped her lips as her eyes cast down to the floor below us. She pushed her silver hair behind her ear. “…thank you, Nagata-kun.” She looked at me with a small smirk. “Thank you for bringing it all to light…”

“I…Ichimonji…san…?” Robyn’s voice croaked out.

“Upupupu! Well that seems to be the end of the trial, everyone! Which means it’s time to cast your votes! I wonder if you’ll pick the absolutely right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one! Who’s it gonna be? What’s it gonna be?!”

“It’s not very suspenseful when the killer has already confessed…” Motoki pointed out.

The slot machine began to spin the three dials, eventually landing on Ayame’s face. The bouquets of flowers appeared by the side of the machine as the word “GUILTY” flashed in red above Ayame’s face.

The class trial was over…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished this chapter so fast, I'm actually really impressed with myself. Though is we keep this pace, maybe I can get the next chapter up by boxing day? Here's hoping.


	17. Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trial is over, now the execution of Ayame Ichimonji must come next...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this wasn't quite posted on boxing day, but lets be honest, it's about as fast as I get with my updates.

The stands were moved back to their normal position, the bulldozers rolling away back to wherever they came from. There was a brief moment of disbelieving silence before Monokuma’s all too familiar chortle sounded throughout the room.

“Upupupupu! What do you know?! You got it right once again! The one that completely crushed the corpse of Takashi Hayashi, was none other than our sweet little flower, Ayame Ichimonji! I guess it’s true! Every rose does have a thorn!” Monokuma laughed it out as Motoki let out a sigh at the joke.

“Honestly, they can’t just have a moment to mourn, can they…?” Motoki mumbled.

“Eh…? Mourning? Who has time for that nowadays? Get with the programme, dumbass! They ain’t a funeral!” Monokuma’s claws sharpened, as he pointed them towards the butler.

“Tch…!” Hiroaki clicked his tongue as he turned to the gardener. “Was it worth it…? Was it really worth killing him over?!” Ayame remained silent, a blank expression and an empty gaze coming from her eyes. “Answer me…answer me you bitch! Why the hell did you kill Taka-chan?!”

“You just don’t get it.” Ayame sighed. “You all have something to keep you all going right? Friends? Family? Goals? Guess what, I don’t. You know what I have that keeps me going? My image. The image of a frail girl being a perfect little gardener being a friend to all things living…I don’t have anything else in my life. Then Monokuma’s motives came out...”

“And you had something that would threaten your reputation…” Shin guessed. “That’s a purely selfish reason to do that…that is no justification for murder, Ichimonji-san!”

“Screw justification, it made sense to me!” Ayame yelled back. “Are you kidding me…? I’m the Super High School Level Gardener…my future life would have been the damn poster girl for gardening supplies! That’s the only thing I have, and being a poster girl relies on your image…like hell I would let anything ruin that.”

“But to kill everyone…” Akiko frowned. “We’re supposed to be your friends…you were so broken up when Matsushina-san was murdered…this doesn’t make any sense.”

“Everybody has something that makes then flip a switch, Sugiyama…I really do care about you all, but…Monokuma just knew how to get into my head. My own selfish desires took control and I ended up killing Hayashi-kun before I even realised the true consequences of what I was doing.” She pushed her hair behind her ear.

“What was it then?” Orochi asked. “What exactly was so bad that your impulses took over as a result? A bad childhood experience? A traitorous act? An embarrassing secret…? Tell my, Ichimonji-chan. Help us all understand where you were coming from in all of this, because, I for one have still got no idea why you would go through all that trouble.”

“W…well…” Ayame was hesitant.

“If she doesn’t wanna tell you all, I certainly can!” Monokuma spoke up. “Picture this in your heads, little kiddos, because it’s story time! A long, long time ago, in the streets of the good ol’ Tokyo city! There lived a girl, with no home, no way to fend for herself. That girl…naturally, was Ayame Ichimonji. She was alone. So alone. Abandoned at birth, the streets were her home…and her only company? An old woman who ran an inn. She’d let her stay at the inn for free whenever she had the room.

“This old lady even had a pretty big garden, yeah, guess where this story is going. So a young Ayame Ichimonji learned about gardening from this old lady. Of course…learning to garden alone wasn’t going to help her situation. From the streets she had learned about some very special ‘plants’ that people would make money off of…

“So what did she do? She used the gardening techniques she had learned and took advantage of the old woman’s kindness to grow these ‘plants’. And if you somehow ain’t guessed yet, those plants were illegal drugs! Ayame Ichimonji became the world’s youngest drug dealer and supplied the masses with it!

“She made a total fortune off of this old woman’s garden! She even earned enough money to buy her own place to live, learned how to fend for herself. Of course, knowing what she was doing was wrong- she never told the woman what she did. It would break that poor woman’s heart. But she sure as hell carried on as a gardener as we can all see…and look where she is now! The Super High School Level Gardener is a secret drug dealer!”

“Wh…that…can’t be true, can it…?” Robyn turned to the silver haired girl. “I..Ichimonji-san…?”

“…well, I’m gonna die anyways, right? My image doesn’t really matter anymore. Yeah, it’s true…I was so down on my luck that I became a drug dealer when I was a kid. My knowledge of that stuff just came from living on the streets for so long. I didn’t exactly have another choice, you know…? You try being homeless like that. You get desperate.” Ayame sighed.

“How did that old woman never know about it though…?” Mamoru asked. “It was her garden, after all.”

“She was blind, and she lost her sense of smell. But she could always tell the plant from how it felt…she was a very kind woman. But I had to make sure she never went near the area I was growing my own supplies. It’s a miracle in itself that I even got away with it.” Ayame had to laugh.

To think though…a girl like her? She was just so…innocent…

“Like I said…since I never had any real family, and I was so preoccupied with my gardening career that I never bothered to make friends…my image really was all that I had. I couldn’t afford for that to be tarnished. No matter what the risk was, I couldn’t let anything destroy my reputation!” Ayame yelled.

“Ichimonji-san…” Etsuko closed her eyes. “…I can’t say I don’t understand…but I won’t say that I agree…”

“I get it…I get it.” Ayame nodded. “I’m so sorry…I know it’s not enough for your forgiveness…but I really am sorry for everything that I did. Especially the way it must have affected you, Yamahata-kun…” The daredevil never responded, his eyes were only cast to the floor. “Well…I suppose that’s every…no. Hold on.” She took the necklace with the key off and handed it to Robyn. “I suppose I should at least give you a memento to remember me by…right? Robyn…?”

“A…Ayame-chan…” Robyn was almost speechless before the two embraced. “…thank you…even if you did horrible things…I know your true nature was a kind girl who just wanted to have friends…”

“Is that so…?” Ayame smiled sadly as the two broke off. “I’m glad…if that’s how you’ll remember me…”

“Upupupupu…! Well, it seems that your time is up!” Monokuma suddenly announced. “I guess it’s time to move onto the main event! I’ve prepared something very special for our Super High School Level Gardener, Ayame Ichimonji! Well, let’s get the ball rollin’! It’s…. _PUNISHMENT TIME!!!_ ”

\--

The large red button arose from the space in front of Monokuma. He pulled out his gavel once again and lightly pressed the button to render his judgement.

_**’AYAME ICHIMONJI HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY. COMMENCING EXECUTION’** _

Monokuma’s throne once again moved to the side and the chain that dragged away Ryokai at the last trial shot into the room, latching onto Ayame and dragging her off into the execution chamber. The screen above Monokuma flashing on to show us what was happening.

**-Ayame Ichimonji’s Execution, Weed Killer-**

Ayame was shown to be surrounded by numerous amounts of giant plants, much larger than any plant should be. She was in the centre of the room, her arms had been tied to a pole, as were her legs.

After a small pause, the plants around Ayame started to release pollen into the air that slowly fell down and began to cover her. As she started to breathe the pollen in, she started to go pale and her eyes went bloodshot. The more pollen that was released, the worse her condition got.

Eventually her face was extremely puffed out, swollen beyond though. At this moment, some sprouts began to grow at a rapid rate, revealing to be large Venus Fly-Traps that snagged onto Ayame’s arms and legs and lifting her into the air.

The plants started to put at her, fighting over who got her and before there was any real victory in the four-way game of tug-of-war, Ayame felt her arms and legs twist and bend until they were broken and limp. Only then she was released, being left to fall onto the pole below her. She felt directly onto the pole, it penetrated her torso, leaving her to bleed out as her gruesome death.

\--

There was a tense silence. Chieko was the only one sobbing this time. Everyone else just seemed dead, emotionally. Mamoru had still gained the uneasy paleness he had after seeing the first execution.

“Wowie! That was a pretty good one, if you ask me!” Monokuma laughed from his seat. “I wonder how that must have felt, y’know? To be impaled by a huge pole like that! Or how long did she feel pain before she died, I mean her senses had to fade away from her body. She wouldn’t have been in pain the whole time!”

“Would you just shut up for, like, two minutes?!” Kotone barked. “Tch! Just what the hell…?”

“It’s despair.” Orochi quietly stated. “That’s what it is. To watch our friend die like that…all for despair. That’s what Monokuma is thinking. I’d cry whilst it still matters…I’m afraid our lives are truly just playthings in here.”

“Kamisaka-kun…” Yumiko gritted her teeth. “Dammit, you’re right. I hate that you’re right.”

“Don’t start thinking like that!” Robyn’s surprisingly chipper voice shot into the conversation, she turned to us. Tears were streaming down from behind her glasses but she had a wide smile pointed to the rest of us. “Lives aren’t things to be toyed with. That’s what Ayame would have said. She would want us to continue thinking that our lives are valuable in this place, no matter what we have to face.” She clutched the key on the necklace Ayame had given her. “At least...I think that’s what she would say.”

“Yes, how much do we really know about each other? That’s the question.” Etsuko ominously said. “Araki-kun was a clearly selfish bastard when we got down to it. Ichimonji-san was a manipulator as a child…I wonder now, who else is hiding some kind of evil side from the rest of us…? Maybe this game will draw those people out.”

“You didn’t listen to a thing I just said, did you?” Robyn glared. “Listen here! This isn’t just a game, understand?! Four people have already died, and you want to continue with calling it a game, and even go further to say that we’re just being tested?!”

“I didn’t say we were being tested…but I suppose it’s like that, yes.” Etsuko twirled her curled hair around her index finger. “No, this is much more than just a simple test…I can feel it.”

“Hanabusa-sama, you-…” Motoki stopped himself. “…apologies…I spoke out of line for a moment.”

“Yeah, you’d better watch that mouth ‘a yours!” Monokuma growled. “Spill anything and I’ll mash you into paste and force feed it to all the surviving players!”

“H-how cruel…” The butler visibly gagged.

“M…maybe we should leave.” Fumio suggested. “I think we’d all agree that it’s better to get some sleep, no matter how we may feel after having to go through that. It…has been a long night.”

“Numajiri-kun is right.” Shin nodded in agreement. “Let us rest for the night…we’ll have a lot to discuss in the morning, I imagine…”

\--  
**==3rd Person POV==**

“Hutchison-san…” Shin called out to the redhead. He had found her out in the garden by the drama building, tending to the garden. “Why are you still awake? You should be sleeping, it’s been a hard day for you.”

“Ah, I’m fine. No need to worry about me.” Robyn smirked, standing up. “Ayame isn’t around anymore, so somebody needs to add to the graves, right? I made one for Hayashi-kun and one for Ayame.” She gestured to the set of graves that had been added. “She really did care about us, that’s what I believe. Otherwise she wouldn’t have made these for Araki-kun and Matsushina-san.” A small silence arose between the two before the artist turned to the boy. “So what’s your story, why are you prancing around the campus?”

“Simply a night-time stroll. It helps to take my mind off of things. I certainly need one tonight after all that happened. Tell me, Hutchison-san…why do you believe in the best of Ichimonji-san? She made it clear that all she had in life was her public image. Do you not worry that she may have acted that way to keep up her public appearance…?”

“No, I’m an artist. I’ve met a lot of fake people, trust me. People like to take advantage of artists a lot. I can tell when somebody is being genuine when they’re doing something. Trust me when I say that Ayame was being real to us when she showed how much she cared…”

“I see…” Shin murmured. “It must be nice to have someone you were able to care for, and cared for you back…”

“Well I care about you as well.” Robyn smiled at the spy. Shin’s eyes widened at this, clear shock coming through in his expression. “Oh come on, did you honestly think that I didn’t care about you? You’re pretty dumb for a spy, Tamuro-kun.”

“I…apologies. When you live the life I have, you find it hard to notice when people genuinely care for you…” Shin looked away and then turned back to Robyn. “I thank you, Hutchison-san for saying that. I means more than you think for someone like you to say something like that to me.”

“No problem. Just don’t be such a downer all the time, okay? And smile more. I’m sure you look pretty cool when you smile.”

\--

Hiroaki stood outside Takashi’s door, a lonely silence hanging in the air as he was left to his own thoughts in the empty hallway. “…Taka-chan…I couldn’t protect you…” His fist tightened. “D-dammit…I’m so useless…”

“Yamahata-kun?” The voice of Etsuko snapped him back into reality. “Are you alright?”

“Oh, uh…yeah. Hanabusa-san, can I ask you something…?” He stared at her for a few moments. “You, uh…you met with Taka-chan before he died, right? Did he tell you why he went to the drama building? Why he had to go there by himself. Why he had to be put in the line of sight for a killer…wh-why…he had to die…?”

Etsuko paused. The sight of a broken man, it was hard to watch. “He went to retrieve his secret. He dropped the paper and went there to look for it. He said it was important that you especially didn’t see it.” She paused once again. “I…think Hayashi-kun knew that he was going to die…”

“Huh?” Hiroaki’s eyes widened. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”

“Hayashi-kun…he told me what his secret was. But he said I was to tell you what it was if he ever died…and of course, he ended up dying just a little while later. It was like he always knew that he was destined to die here. It’s sad, really.” Etsuko frowned. “Did you ever notice that the Monokuma File only listed his name as ‘Takashi’? Only his first name?”

“I did, but I just figured it was because we all knew what his family name was. Why do you ask?” Hiroaki tilted his head.

“His secret…it was about what his real identity was. His name isn’t Takashi Hayashi…his actual name is Takashi _Yamahata_.” She was silent for a moment so Hiroaki could process what she had said. “Hayashi…no…Yamahata-kun’s secret is that he was actually your brother.”

“B…brother…?” His confusion was suddenly replaced by rage. “Don’t fuck with me! Like hell Taka-chan is related to me! I would remember if my mom had another kid!”

“He was your _older brother_ , Yamahata-kun. Older by 4 years.”

“That’s an even bigger piece of bullshit! How could he be older than me by 4 years?! That would make him 19! Have you seen him, the kid is short as hell! Plus if he was that much older than me, why did we end up in the same class?!”

“He told me everything…just after you were born, he was kidnapped whilst your family was out at an amusement park. He managed to escape, but he was never able to find his way home. Eventually he stumbled upon a group of archaeologists who raised him. So, he entered school a lot later than he should have. That’s why we ended up in the same class as him.” Etsuko explained. “I already confirmed everything with Monokuma, at Takashi-kun’s request, no less.”

“B…brother…why would my parents never mention something like that…?” Hiroaki’s voice croaked out.

“Maybe they thought it would be easier if you never knew about having an older brother…I’m not sure how I could react to hearing about an older sibling that was kidnapped when I was young.” Etsuko stepped towards Hiroaki and rested a hand on his shoulder. “Are…are you okay…?”

“Taka…niisan…? Aniki…?” Hiroaki’s thought process was only focussing on this one fact. “I…c-couldn’t even protect my brother…” He legs suddenly gave way and he slumped against the door behind him.

“You can cry if you need to…” Etsuko told him, taking a seat at his right. “I won’t tell anyone. It’s a lot to take in after all. If you think about it…the fact he went to you when asking about someone taking a bath with him, calling you ‘Hiroaki-nii’…he must have known from the start, but was scared to tell you about it.”

“From the start...” Hiroaki repeated, resting his chin on top of his legs which were pulled up to his chest. “Onii-chan…” Etsuko’s expression softened upon hearing him whisper those words. “…I’m gonna do it…”

“Huh?” The choreographer arched her eyebrow as Hiroaki stood up, a sudden determination coming through in his expression. “What are you gonna do…?”

“I’m gonna survive, obviously!” Hiroaki grinned, turning to the brunette. “That’s what Onii-chan would want right?! Alright, Hiroaki Yamahata is getting fired up! Everyone better watch up, because I’m coming at them, full force! The Ultimate Daredevil lives for thrills and waits for nobody!”

“…geez.” She let out a sigh. “I don’t care how fired up you get, just try to get some sleep tonight, okay…?”

“Don’t worry about me!” He gave a thumbs up whilst running his other hand through his orange-red hair. “I’ll be able to sleep! Hiroaki Yamahata can do anything!” He began to walk back to his room, a sudden new confidence in his steps.

“I think I just made him even more annoying…” Etsuko smiled. “…ah, it wouldn’t be the same if he wasn’t obnoxious.” She turned and walked to her room.


	18. Historical

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the conclusion of the second trial, a new building has been opened to the remaining students. Just what could be waiting for them inside?

“Oh what fresh hell is this…?” I cursed under my breath. The next day we were all gathered to the building next to the drama building. It was certainly different from the other one, but I don’t think it was in the good way. This place seemed like it would be home to prisoners, filled with old fashioned torture devices. It made me uneasy just to look at it.

“So it’s like last time...” Fumio tapped his gavel. “Seems for every trial we manage to pass, Monokuma will open up a new area for us to investigate. Maybe we’ll be able to find clues on how to get of here.”

“The chances are slim, but it’s good to remain positive right now.” Orochi nodded. “Anyways, let’s split off into teams, I suppose. I’ll go with Sora, if nobody has any objections.” The decipherer stood next to me. Nobody said anything, though Mamoru seemed a little bitter about the arrangement. He still doesn’t trust him, huh…?

“Fukao-kun? Would you like to investigate together today…?” Yumiko offered. Mamoru paused before simply giving her a nod as a response. Kotone and Chieko had already rushed into the building. Well, I say rush. Chieko was basically dragged in by Kotone.

“Tamuro-kun? Want to investigate together?” Fumio looked over to the spy. “We never had the chance last time. So, if you would?”

“I have no objections. I’ve actually been meaning to talk to you about…’that’…” Fumio’s expression seemed to change at an instant when Shin spoke. “You don’t mind, do you…?” Fumio paused before slowly nodding, the two walking away together.

“Hutchison-san…?” Akiko smiled. “Wanna go along with me? I bet we’ll make way better discoveries than anyone else could dream of.” The songwriter grinned, pulling on the sleeve of Robyn’s hoodie. Though reluctant, Robyn gave in and followed Akiko into the building.

Which left…

“Eh?!” Etsuko cried out realising only she and Hiroaki were left. “Wh-what kind of joke is this?! Yamahata-kun and I?! I’d rather go investigating with the damn bear!” As if on command, Monokuma appeared beside her. “Urk! Get away from here you idiot!”

“Geez, burger breath, you’re the one that called me.” Monokuma sighed.

“B-burger breath?!” Etsuko covered her mouth. “I swear to god, as soon as I find out whoever is controlling this game, I’m gonna kill them in the worst way possible.” She glared at myself and Orochi. “You hear that?! Nobody is allowed to take the mastermind’s life except for me!”

“Sure, whatever. Do what you like.” I shrugged.

“…hmph. Move it, Yamahata. I’m not gonna be slowed down by the likes of you.”

“Don’t need to worry about me, if anything you’ll have to try and keep up!” Hiroaki grinned as he followed the choreographer into the building. He seemed unusually chipper compared to how he was before during and after the trial yesterday. Maybe something happened that we didn’t hear about…?

“Well, Sora?” Orochi tugged on my shirt sleeve. “Shall we head in as well…?” He smiled gently as we started to walk into the building.

…ah.

The building was definitely something out of a medieval movie. There were torches lit along the hallways, the doors to the rooms were like doors to dungeons, in fact there were even parts of the floor that were just metal gratings where you could see into the floor below. Or at least, you would be able to if the lighting in this building wasn’t so bad.

“J…just what kind of place is this…?” Orochi frowned. “Monokuma…?” He turned to look at the bear that still hadn’t vanished from when Etsuko ‘summoned’ him. “Is there any specific reason as to why the building looks like this?”

“I guess you could call this the history building!” Monokuma laughed a little. “Anything you could ever want to learn about the past is all in here. Weapons, wars, armour, political figures, movements, weapons-“

“You said weapons twice.” Orochi interrupted. “Don’t tell me you’re going to try and make us kill each other with the stuff in this building? That’s so ridiculous. If its weapons from the past that would include things like spears and bow and arrows. That could never be transported without being noticed by others.”

“Meh, maybe somebody is gonna feel a little risky?” Monokuma shrugged. “Although, it’s gonna be interesting to see how you all take this place. Maybe you’ll find something that you aren’t expecting? The excitement!”

“Oh god, there’s gonna be something weird in here.” I sighed. This is already too much for me. “Orochi, maybe we should just hurry and scour the place. The less time we’re in here, the better. I don’t do well in these kinds of uncomfortable settings…”

“I’m in agreement.” Orochi nodded. “Sorry to cut this short, Monokuma, but, we don’t really like having to hear you ramble on about useless things. So, if you’ll excuse us, Sora and I shall be investigating whatever the hell this building is.”

“Yeesh, you kids are hard to keep impressed, aren’t you?” Monokuma’s head drooped to the ground. “Whatever, I guess. You guys have fun! I’ll always be watching and listening if you need some help. I’m still your headmaster, so-“

“Just go.” I mumbled with annoyance. Monokuma stared for a second before disappearing into thin air once again. “…finally.” I let out a sigh and leaned against the wall. “Just what is up with these buildings? Hope’s Peak is supposed to be a school that benefits all kinds of talents, right? But these buildings have been focusing on certain areas. History. Performing Arts. That’s not a very widespread when there are only two other buildings.”

“I agree, it’s…confusing.” Orochi nodded. “But this isn’t even Hope’s Peak, so I guess we can’t really hold it against them…”

“Huh?” I looked over at the Decipherer. “Not Hope’s Peak…?”

“…ah. Never mind. Just spouting nonsense to myself again.” He smiled a little. “Come on, there’s a classroom just down there, let’s check it out and see if there’s anything worthwhile.” He began to push me along the hallway towards the classroom door, though I really need to get to the bottom of what he meant by that.

…what am I saying? I sound like a fucking detective.

Upon entering the ‘classroom’, if you could call it that, it seemed more like an exhibit at a museum, we found Mamoru and Yumiko searching the desks aligned neatly facing the blackboard at the front of the classroom. There were swords displayed along the walls of the classroom, and rather than lockers in the corner of the room, a large iron maiden sat ominously staring into the class.

“Kamisaka-kun and Nagata-kun, how is your investigation coming along?” Yumiko asked almost instantly, pushing her short hair behind her ear. Orochi’s eyes seemed to be scanning the room for anything worthwhile, though it seemed like he wasn’t too interested in anything.

“Nothing yet, sorry to say. How about you? Find anything interesting?” He asked with a small smile.

“Desks are empty. No traces of anything ever being in that iron maiden. Looks like this whole room was pointless from the beginning.” Mamoru clicked his tongue as he finished his sentence and then shifted his ever-present glare to me. “Honestly, he’s just telling us to have a battle royal at this point, giving us so many weapons. Most of them are fake anyways.”

“Fake weapons? What’s the point in hanging them up then? Monokuma would only give us these if they were actually useful.” Orochi folded his arms. “…I wonder.”

“Maybe he just wanted to keep up the aesthetic of the time period?” Yumiko sighed deeply, letting her shoulder slump a little. “Whatever the reason may be, we should try and put these swords somewhere nobody can reach. Just to be on the safe side, you know?”

“A good call.” Mamoru agreed quickly. “Perhaps we can place these up in the third floor of the performing arts building. It’s not like its being used for much else, plus it’s one of the few places we’d need a key to get into.”

“Plus it would mean having to walk up all those stairs…who has time for something like that…?” I murmured.

“Whatever reason is preventing you works, I suppose.” Yumiko placed a hand on her hip. “A building dedicated towards history of weapons and armour. Monokuma must have put a lot of work into creating this place.”

“There seems to be a tower as well. I noticed it when we were outside, the staircase to that is probably down the end of this hallway. I have to wonder what’s up there.” Mamoru put a finger to his chin in thought. “I believe I saw Okuda-san and Arishima-san head that way. Sugiyama-san and Hutchison-san as well.”

“Speaking of Kotone and Chieko…when do you think they’re gonna start dating, huh?” I smirked, gaining the confused stares of the other three. Were they really that dense, “Oh come on, you’ve all seen how Kotone is towards Chieko. It’s so obvious that she likes her, it’s actually a pain to watch them go about without saying anything. I might start getting headaches if Kotone doesn’t just up and tell her…”

“I can think of another pair that matches that description-” Yumiko looked off to the side. “-not that it matters. Okuda-san and Arishima-san might just be good friends, its normal for girls to be that close with each other. If they were boys I would understand the thought.”

“Yumiko. Listen-“ I clapped my hands together for emphasis. “-Wake up and smell the homosexuality. Like…come on, I know you’re better than this.”

“I think he’s probably got a point. Okuda-chan certainly seems to be overly fond of Arishima-chan, so it’s not hard to believe that she has a crush on her. It’s kind of cute when you think about it. Kind of like how Fukao-kun is with Sora.”

I think Mamoru nearly chocked up blood when he heard that.

“Wh-what the hell are you babbling on about, you dumbass! As if I would want to go out with this lazy bastard!” Mamoru pointed fiercely at me as he spoke. It’s still the same song and dance. “N-none of that matters anyways…sh-shouldn’t we get back to investigating this place, Hashimoto-san?”

“I suppose you’re right, yes.” Yumiko nodded before turning to Orochi and I and bowing. “We’ll be taking our leave. If you’ll excuse us both…” She straightened up again and walked out of the room with Mamoru grumpily following behind.

“…heh.” Orochi pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fukao-kun…”

“What is it?” I raised an eyebrow.

“…nothing. Don’t worry about a thing.” He patted my head as he headed for the door. That’s twice now that he’s avoided my questions. He’s…a bigger mystery than I even realised at first.

…why the actual fuck do I sound like I’m investigating? What is this place doing to me?

“Sora! Come on! Let’s go check out the tower!” Orochi called from the doorway. I paused, staring at the Decipherer for only a moment, but it was long enough for him to tilt his head at my hesitance. “…are you okay?”

“Orochi…” I found myself calling his name out, but I didn’t really feel like I was in control of what I was saying. “…can we talk later? Just the two of us? I want to ask you about a few things.” He stared at me for a few seconds.

“S…sure. Whatever you need.” He nodded slowly before gesturing out of the door. “Let’s finish off our investigation for now, okay? I think it would be best to keep moving.” With nothing else to add, I followed along behind him as we began heading to the tower that Yumiko had mentioned.

\--

“Dumbass! Let us back in you stupid bear!” We suddenly heard Kotone’s anger fuelled voice bellow from above us in the tower’s spiral stairway. “I wanna see that again! Let me see it you fucking bastard!” We continued up into a small clearing with Robyn, Akiko, Chieko, and of course Kotone all standing out in. A steel door was built into the wall, obviously the one Kotone was abusing a few seconds ago. “…S’up…” Kotone grunted out her greeting.

“What’s going on?” Orochi asked. “What did that poor door ever do to you, Okuda-chan?”

“Nothing. It’s what’s on the other side of the door! And that damn bear locked us out!” Kotone stuck her head out the window and screamed out into the courtyard in frustrating. Whilst the flurry of cursing was echoing in the background, Akiko began explaining what had happened.

“See…we all came up here to investigate, and we found this room. When we went in there and found this giant sniper. Bigger than any gun we had ever seen before, it was drilled into the floor.” Akiko started.

“Yeah, then Arishima-san, Sugiyama-san, and Okuda-san all started messing around with it.” Robyn added. “I didn’t want to go anywhere near it, so I just stayed here.”

“O-Okuda-chan was really excited by the gun because she said it looked like an old sniper with a special setup that she had heard about a long time ago. H-her talent means she uses guns a lot, so it really got her excited…” Chieko saying this only seemed to make Kotone want to scream more.

“Okuda-san then said she’d get a better look at it later so we all joined Hutchison-san out here…then Monokuma came along and locked the door from the inside. He said the weapon was highly dangerous and shouldn’t be handled carelessly, so participants of the game aren’t allowed to use it. He used a master key only he and Hakamada-kun have access to.” Akiko finished off the explanation. “And…of course that left Okuda-san absolutely enraged.”

“That stupid Monokuma bastard! I’ll scale the damn walls if I have to, I’m getting back into that room!” Just as Kotone said this, our ElectroIDs all let out a ‘ding’. There was an update to the school rules.

‘Scaling the sides of the buildings is strictly prohibited. Any student caught trying to climb up the exterior of the buildings will be punished accordingly.’

Kotone was silent, though the malicious aura surrounding her was enough to make everyone back away from her. “I’m…gonna kill that bear before we leave here…I swear it…” She growled. “Ari-chan…we’re going somewhere else to investigate.” She announced, making her way towards the staircase with loud stomps.

The shrine maiden seemed panicked, quickly saying her goodbyes to us all before hurrying off after Kotone.

“I really hope she doesn’t break anything.” Akiko let out a deep sigh. “But anyways, how have you guys done with your investigation…? I’d say Hutchison and I have had a pretty good look around this place.” The songwriter brushed back her violet hair. “Found some…interesting stuff.”

“Such as?” Orochi smiled as he asked.

“Nuh-uh!” Robyn pointed at us suddenly. “We’re showing it only when we think the time is right. Until then, you guys can just wait wondering just what amazing thing it is! And trust me, it’s really amazing!”

“I bet it’s something stupid.” I mumbled, scratching the top of my head. Robyn puffed out her cheeks and glared at me. “…what? If you aren’t gonna show us, then I’m free to think of it however I want.”

“Guys! Guys!” There was a yell from outside. Akiko turned to the window and poked her head out to see who was shouting, finding Hiroaki down in front of the building, waving his arms around like a madman to get the attention centred to him. “We’re gonna head back now, so make sure you finish up soon, alright?! Everyone should have managed to cover the whole building by now!”

“Stop yelling like that, you dumbass!” Etsuko scorned him as she walked out of the building.

“…how did they get paired together?” Akiko looked back at us three. “…oh. Right. I went with Hutchison-san, so it was just those two left…whoops. I feel bad for Hanabusa-san.” Good to know that literally everyone is so rude to Hiroaki. It’s not just me. “…should we head back?”

“We didn’t really see much though, did we…?” Orochi looked down to me.

“Yeah, but it’ll be easier if we go back now. Less stressful…less effort…” My eyes moved to the staircase. Ugh. I’m gonna have to go all the way down those now…it was bad enough going up. “…Orochi…do you think I could become Super High School Level Fairy Tale Princess and just stay here?”

“Move it.” Robyn grabbed the back of my shirt collar and began dragging me down the tower staircase.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH  
> This took so long, I'm so sorry! It's just my schoolwork has been essay after essay so I haven't had much time to work on this chapter. So, it is a little short but I feel like I'd rather write something short, than make people wait longer.
> 
> Please comment what you think, I need the extra motivation.


	19. Weapons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the investigation of the new area now complete, a report now has to be made to everyone.

We all sat in the cafeteria, around the large table in the centre of the room. Everyone seemed to wearing similar expressions, aside from Hiroaki who seemed a lot peppier than usual, which is strange considering the person that was basically his only friend was killed just yesterday. I have to wonder what happened last night, if anything happened.

“Alright then, now that we’re all back…I suppose we should finally start our reports.” Etsuko announced. “Which of you wants to go first...?”

“The classrooms are rather bland, if I’m brutally honest.” Yumiko started the reports. “Fukao-kun and I were checking all the classrooms out, but there was nothing significant about any of them as far as we could tell. Although, I suppose they did have all those weapons and one even had an iron maiden…but the weapon décor was the same for every room in the building, if I remember right.”

“Yeah. You’re right. Every room Tamuro-kun and I examined had been covered wall-to-wall in different weapons and torture devices from across the centuries. I must admit, some of the ones I’ve learned about are rather…horrifying to say the least.” Fumio frowned.

“If you think the descriptions are bad, then you should see some of them when they’re actually used.” A few heads turned to Shin. “…if you seriously think a government spy hasn’t had to torture people in the past, then that’s your own ignorance.”

“I’ll keep that noted for later.” Akiko nodded.

“I want to talk about that area underneath the first floor. It seemed like there was a dungeon underneath the grates in the floor, but we couldn’t find any way to actually get down there and investigate it properly.” Hiroaki said.

“Monokuma said it’s a special area reserved for him and Hakamada. It’s a seriously dangerous place and if we had access to it then it would make this game very bad.” Etsuko added. “…it makes me even more curious about how to get in there though. It’s possible there could be some kind of hidden entrance to it in one of the other buildings.”

“If there was a hidden entrance, wouldn’t we have found it by now?” Robyn asked.

“Not necessarily. It’s Monokuma, after all. He would have picked a very precise location to put a hidden door. If one does exist, it isn’t strange to think that we haven’t managed to find it yet. Another investigation of this building and the performing arts building could be in order.” Mamoru concluded.

“We can organise something like that tomorrow. I’ll gladly lead the investigation.” Shin nodded.

“Right.” Kotone sat up straight. “Let me tell you all about this fucking tower at the right side of the fucking building because I’m still bitter over this shit. Basically, Ari-chan and I, along with Sugiyama-san and Hutchison-san all climb up that fucking spiral staircase, which is tiring as hell, by the way, to find this amazing, brilliant-looking, giant sniper up there. Like the kind that’s super rare. So Ari-chan, Sugiyama-san and I are all casually examining a little, like you would and we step out of the room for a second.” She took a moment before continuing. “The door closes and locks…and Monokuma, with his bitch-ass, decides to tell us that we’re not allowed in there because it’s ‘too dangerous’.”

Kotone stands up and starts walking around the room. God, she was so pissed off. “Like, bitch what?!” She growled. “Like, think about that for a second. A bear that traps everyone in a killing game decides to lock away a giant gun because it’s too dangerous. What the actual fuck?!”

“You said it was a rare gun?” Robyn asked.

“Yeah, see this thing is bolted into the ground so the only way you can aim it is by rotating it on its little pedestal. But that’s not the cool part of it. This thing has fucking timer! You can set timers on that thing and leave it there to just take someone out whilst you establish an alibi for yourself. Do you realise how useful that would have been for me? On so many job?! Ugh!”

“…but she’s not bitter, obviously.” I smirked, earning a powerful glare from her.

“Even so, she does have a point. It’s strange that Monokuma would hide away a gun from us in the middle of a killing game, in a building dedicated to weapons at that. It’s suspicious.” Mamoru put a finger to his chin in thought.

“Maybe he thought the gun would have made things unfair in a trial? He says that he likes both sides to have an equal chance of winning, which is why he makes the Monokuma Files the way he does.” Fumio theorised, twirling his gavel around his fingers.

“He’s got a point. Monokuma may be a total asshole, but he does try to make things fair for both sides during a trial. That’s pretty much his only redeeming quality.” Akiko closed her eyes, taking a moment to think. “…by the way, do you guys ever worry about when out next motive could come…?”

“That’s an ominous question.” Hiroaki frowned.

“But a fair one. I mean, we have to all admit we’ve at least put some thought into it. When will it come? What will it be? Will it affect me directly? Will it actually push somebody over the edge and make them commit murder? It’s…scary to be honest.” Yumiko tensed as she reached the end of her sentence. The reporter rubbed her right forearm, her eyes casting down to the floor”…not something that’s pleasant to talk about it, is it?”

“H-Hashimoto-san…it’ll be alright!” Akiko quickly perked up. She seemed to stutter about, looking for the right way to phrase what she wanted to say next. “W…well, we’ve had to go through two class trials already. We know how painful they are! There’s no way anybody here would want to go through all that again!”

“Sugiyama-chan does have a valid point. I feel like we’ve probably filtered out anyone that would be willing to kill. We should be fine now.” Orochi smiled.

“I do hope you’re both right. I apologise for bringing the mood down like that. Where were we again?” Yumiko asked.

“Ah, on the third floor…there was a library filled with old history textbooks. Myself and Yamahata-kun decided to skim through a few of them, but it was exactly what you’d expect to find. Nazi’s. Progression of Women throughout history. Wars upon wars. Nothing of great interest. However, it’s still worth noting, I think.” Etsuko leaned forward on the table.

“Yeah, Hanabusa-san’s really smart! She was reading all this super difficult text, I’d never even seen some of those words before but she seemed to know everything! Hanabusa-san’s awesome!” Hiroaki grinned.

“I-is that so…? Hanabusa-san…?” Akiko smiled weakly towards Etsuko.

“Don’t get the wrong idea, it’s just because he’s a total blockhead that can’t read to save his life. Some of the words he probably would have learned if we actually stayed in school rather than throw away his education to become a daredevil. Honestly, I don’t understand that talent at all. What good is death-defying stunts when it could just lead to your final breath being taken from you? Not worth the risk, if you ask me.” Etsuko sneered.

“Hey now! Don’t knock it until you try it for yourself! The best part of stunts are the thrills you get from ‘em! If there’s no thrill in what you’re doing, then what’s the point?! Plus, I have a super durable body so there’s never any danger of me getting hurt permanently!” Hiroaki assured her.

“I suppose you would at least test the stunts to make sure they were safe enough to be performed in front of an audience.” Robyn shrugged. “If it keeps him happy, then let him do what he wants, I say.”

“Though if you die, I’m not participating in that class trial, just as a warning.” Etsuko glared at him.

“Oi! I ain’t plannin’ on dying anytime soon!” Hiroaki growled. “…god, why do we always end up talking about dying? Can’t we talk about something not depressing for like two seconds?!”

“It’s the effects of the area, I’d say. Thrown into a death game, you actually become more aware when the topic comes up.” Kotone shrugged.

“Moving on from it properly though…is that everything we have to discuss? Weapons, dungeon, library, tower…I guess there wasn’t really much there, was there?” Fumio sighed. 

“Actually I do want to ask you two something. What was it you were so desperate to sneak off and talk about during the investigation of the building?” Kotone looked at Fumio and Shin. Oh yeah, I had forgotten about that. Fumio had said they needed to talk about something, I’m guessing important. “Tell us what the hell was so important that you needed to go somewhere private?”

“Was it a love confession?!” Robyn’s eyes gleamed.

“L-love confession…?” Chieko frowned.

“Of course it wasn’t, do not be ridiculous. We were discussing Motoki Hakamada and his motivations for trying to poison us all…and whether it was really him that tried to kill us all.” Shin explained, his eye trailing across the room as he spoke. “If I had to guess…I’d say the person that tried to poison all of us is in this room.”

“One of us?!” Chieko squeaked, suddenly looking very pale. “B-b-but n-nobody here would gain anything from trying to k-kill all of us at once!”

“Neither would Hakamada.” Shin pointed out. “Isn’t that odd…? Plus he seemed to deny that he was responsible at first, but quickly changed his mind and said that it was, in fact, his doing. That’s too suspicious to let slide…I feel he may be covering up for somebody else.”

“Then it was probably the mastermind, not one of-“

“The mastermind _is_ one of us though.” Shin cut Akiko off, forcing the room into silence. “As for who specifically, I’m not sure…but the mastermind is definitely somebody sitting in this room. I’d say they tried to poison us all because they became tired of this game but their plan failed. Hakamada realised what had happened and then decided to take the fall for it in his master’s stead.”

“The Super High School Level Butler…that talent isn’t just for show. Either that, or the Mastermind is somebody else and somebody just decided a mass killing would be easier for all of us in the end.” Etsuko suggested.

“A mass killing…” Mamoru repeated softly.

“I don’t want to believe something like that…I don’t ever want to think about something like that.” Akiko fidgeted as she spoke.

“Don’t worry about a thing, Sugiyama-san! If anyone tries anything, I’ll mash ‘em into paste!” Hiroaki grinned. “So…don’t look so worried about stuff, alright? You got me to keep an eye for you!”

“And that’s supposed to make her feel safe, how…?” Etsuko clicked her tongue.

“Oi!”

The conversation seemed to carry on like that for a while until we had finally decided that everything of importance had been discussed. One-by-one we all began to disperse from the cafeteria. I was just planning to head back to my room until-

“Nagata-kun.” Fumio suddenly approached me. “Could you come with me right now…? There’s something I want to ask somebody about. I need some opinions on a few things.”

“Eh…? Why pick me? I’m not exactly what people would describe as ‘good company’. Wouldn’t you be better off going with…I dunno, Shin or something?” My brow furrowed. I really just wanted to lay down for the day.

“Tamuro-kun is busy right now. He said he wanted to investigate the mastermind theory right away, so…will you please join me?” He offered a second time. The offer still not looking any more appealing than the first time he asked…but…

“…ugh. Fine. If I have to, then I have to. But make sure it’s quick, alright…? These dark circles don’t disappear easily.”

“Noted. Thank you for your cooperation, Nagata-kun.” Don’t put it like that. Makes it sound like some kind of kidnapping. I will scream for help if I have to. Probably would also help my case if I could actually be bothered to say that to his face.

\--

He had ended up dragging me up to the fountain at the centre of the courtyard. The peaceful sound of the running water was more interesting than whatever Fumio had been rambling about for the past few minutes. Something about ways to bring the group closer together to prevent murders. I mean, it was a good thing he was trying but I just don’t know if that goal is realistic. Preventing murders, I mean. It would be good if we could…but you’d think the Super High School Level Judge would have been a little bit more of a realist.

“Nagata-kun are you listening?” Fumio suddenly asked. God, I really must have zoned out. What was he saying right before he asked that? Crap. Fumio let a sigh as he gently massaged his temples. “Clearly not…I was saying we could all get together and watch the horror movies from the third floor. I’m…not great with horror, admittedly but I’m willing to do it for the greater good of the group.”

“You’re a judge, right…? And you’ve presided over murder cases before, right?” He nodded to both of my question. “Then…how the actual fuck are you bad with horror? Especially with the situation we’re in.”

“W-well…it’s not blood I’m scared of, it’s just the idea of serial killers or the paranormal. Jump-scares…not good for me.” He explained.

“Maybe if you get scared Shin will let you curl up next to him for protection.” I grinned.

“…why would Tamuro-kun do that?” Eh? That blank expression…was nothing really going on between them?! “Though it’ll be embarrassing if I scream in front of everyone…I wonder if we should go along it this one.”

“Fumio. I will not lie to you. I have not been listening to you until now and this is the only idea I’m aware of you bringing up. I am tired. I am lazy, and frankly it was kind of stupid of you to trust me with this kind of task. So…to make it easier on both of us, I’d say just go with the horror movies. It’s simple, it’s something that we can all laugh at later. And frankly if you wet yourself it’ll add some humour to our situation. So go for it.”

“…you’re right.” He smiled a little. Wait, really? “Honestly, I think I made the right choice by asking for your help. I’m always worried that my decisions are wrong…is that bad for someone like me to say?”

“Probably, yeah. How can you say stuff like that? You’re like…famous for handing down the right verdict.” I pointed out.

“Yes, I am. Though I never really feel like I’m doing any of the important work. I just go through the necessary motions that have to done at the end of the trial. It’s the lawyers that decide the fate of the defendant. I just watch. A simple spectator.” Fumio started to tap on the gavel. “I…honestly didn’t even want to have a job within law. My father was the Chief Prosecutor and his ex-wife, my mother, is a defence attorney. He wanted me to preside over trials and get him wins. So he used his position to help me get the qualifications to become a judge.”

“You say ‘was’ for your dad, but ‘is’ for your mom?”

“He got caught out. He lost his badge…but when they saw my pass was completely legitimate, they let me continue as a judge. I began taking cases. Not a very…great backstory to my talent, I suppose. But a story nonetheless.” He shrugged, adjusting his robes. “I feel like this outfit isn’t that practical…maybe I should try changing my look a little? This isn’t really ‘me’.”

“If you ask Yumiko or Etsuko, I’m sure they’d be happy to help you reinvent yourself into an image better suited for you. They certainly jumped at the chance to do so when Akiko needed help picking out a dress.”

“Ah! You’re right!” His eyes lit up. “I should talk to you more, Nagata-kun! You actually give some really good advice.”

“I do…?” I looked away for a moment, slightly amazed that someone could even think I was helpful in that way. “…wanna tell Mamoru that? I feel like he doesn’t have much faith in me. I don’t think he’s ever had faith in me, actually.”

“I wouldn’t say that…from what I can tell, Fukao-kun thinks you’re very capable. He can’t help but be protective of you though. You’re childhood friends, and he probably has some kind of personal pride with a name like ‘Mamoru’. I mean, it literally means ‘protect’. Did…did something happen in his past? Where he was unable to protect someone, or someone had to protect him…? If something like that happened, his actions towards you would make much more sense.” Fumio spun his gavel around his fingers, his face shifting to a look of concern for me.

“…well…I guess you could say something like that happened. But a lot has happened since then, so he shouldn’t still be worrying about it. Then again, he’s totally the type to hold on to things like that. It makes me worry…”

“You worry about him as well then…?” Fumio tilted his head to the side. “I feel like you might want to tell him that. He probably feels a little disconnected from you sometimes. In this situation, every moment counts.”

I paused for a few moments before proceeding to speak. “Fumio…I think I might-“

“Nagata! Numajiri!” We both suddenly turned to see Kotone strutting toward us, a wide grin spread across her face. “Look at the happy pair! What are you two up to? Looking out across the lovely sky whilst listening to the running water? How romantic!”

“You’re in a good mood. Why?” I looked up at the bounty hunter. Kotone’ grin seemed to double in size when I asked. “…oh my god, did Hiroaki cut off a finger because if so, then I understand why you’re happy.”

She began to cackle wildly, holding her sides as her laughter filled the air. “Heck no! Something way, way better than that! I’ve decided that I’ve made everyone wait long enough.” She put her hands on her hips and proudly exclaimed. “It’s time I finally asked Ari-chan out officially!”

There was a still air in the time it took for myself and Fumio to process what she had said. “You’re…gonna…” I was about to repeat what she had said before I was abruptly cut off by-

 **“EEEEHHHHH?!!”** Fumio yelled out. “Y-you’re gonna ask out Arishima-san?! Wh-when did you start having feelings for her?!”

“Dude. Have you not been paying attention?” I said flatly. “Like…it was pretty obvious, if you ask me. So, what brought this decision on, and why tell us?”

“Because…being in here made me realise just how short life can be for people…so if there’s anything you want to say to someone, you gotta say it as soon as possible or you might end up regretting it later. Something my old man used to tell me, but I never really understood it until now. I told you guys because I want some help with what I’m gonna say to her. I wanna make it perfect on the first try.”

“Then…”

“Yep…I really think I’ve fallen in love with Ari-chan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLIDAYS MEANS MORE TIME FOR WRITING
> 
> I NEED TO GET TO WRITING MORE TO MAKE UP FOR ALL THE LOST TIME, I AM SO SORRY GUYS
> 
> Ugh, honestly, especially in exam season it is just hard to find time to sit down and just write. But luckily I've managed to get the next chapter up. I wonder where all of this will lead to...?
> 
> But please leave your comments, they give me that extra motivation to write.


	20. Deals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sora and Fumio are being forced to help Kotone with her love crisis, but when Sora leaves the room, he ends up dropping in on an unexpected conversation.

“Alright boys, welcome to Romance Class! The class in which you two are gonna help me find a way to totally woo the hell outta Ari-chan!” Kotone grinned widely. She had dragged Fumio and I to one of the classrooms in the history building and forced us to help out with her dilemma. We didn’t even get a choice in the matter, we just have to do it.

Though…

“So, why am I here?” Mamoru asked raising his hand. Seems like he also got roped into this along with Fumio and I.

“Should be obvious, my young assistant! If I’m gonna ask Nagata, then I gotta make sure his boyfriend is here to help out as well!” Kotone said. I watched as Mamoru’s face completely flushed, whether from annoyance or embarrassment, I’m not sure.

“W-we aren’t dating, goddammit! Why does everyone think I would go as low as to date a lazy, dull, idiotic jackass like him?!” He pointed at me without taking his eyes off of Kotone. “You have the wrong people for this job. I’ve never dated anyone, and neither has Sora.”

“So you’ve been keeping track of my love life~?”

“Stop that!” He growled. “My point still stands.”

“Meh. You guys are still better than no help. I’m pretty sure the only people who have actually dated in the past are Hutchison-san, Hanabusa-san, and Yamahata-kun-“

“Say no more. I understand.” I stopped her. “I will always agree than I am better than Hiroaki at giving advice…or most things, really. I just…don’t like him. Don’t know why. I just don’t.”

“Because he’s stronger than you, nicer than you, people probably like him more, he can probably organise his life whilst you take an hour and a half to get out of bed…on a good day…” Mamoru grumbled.

“Can we focus on what matters right now? Come on guys, I really need your help right now. You know it’s important since I’d never ask for people’s help otherwise.” Kotone leaned against the blackboard at the front of the classroom. “Ari-chan’s special to me, so we gotta get this right. And if you decide not…well, I’m the Super High School Level Bounty Hunter for a reason, y’know?” She grinned.

“We should begin with something simple. How about…what do you like about Arishima-san?” Fumio asked her. The three of us all watched whilst Kotone’s blank face slowly began to redden from embarrassment, something none of us were used to seeing on Kotone of all people.

“Wh-where should I s-start…? Uh…well, she’s obviously really pretty, but not in the sexy way other girls are. Like…cute, and she speaks so politely that it kind of makes me smile. Not to mention she’s super kind to everyone, I don’t know how she does it. She’s never angry or annoyed at people and she’s always putting others before herself and I really admire that. She doesn’t even realise her own charms because she’s so modest. Plus I like it when girls are really short, I think it’s adorable! She makes me forget about anything bad I’ve done and makes me feel…like a normal girl again. How I felt before I became a bounty hunter, I mean. Nobody in the world had ever made me feel so safe like that…I feel like I can be myself around her without the fear or regrets in my life.” She finished off her sentence with a happy yet shy smile.

Well…dang. It’s definitely official, the girl is totally under our shrine maiden’s spell. I couldn’t help but smile. Seeing someone happy here just seemed…good. Miraculous even. Mamoru seemed to have this look on his face as he stared at the desk he was sitting at, clearly deep in his own thoughts. Fumio seemed to be thinking over everything she had said, he was getting really into this whole ‘love life advice’ bullshit even though I’m pretty sure he’s the furthest from being in a relationship.

“Are…are you scared…?” Mamoru mumbled. All of us turned to him when he posed his question. “I mean. Listen to you, you’re so positive that everything will be okay. Arishima-san…first of all, does she even like girls? Does she like you? How are you supposed to know anything like that? How…can you confront your feelings so easily? I don’t understand you, Okuda-san, I really don’t.” His clasped hands seemed to tighten around each other as he spoke.

“Because I got no other choice.” Kotone sighed. “Come on, we’ve seen what happens in this place. People…they’ll die…I don’t want to die along with my feelings. Even worse…I…I don’t want…” She seemed hesitant to continue her sentence. “I don’t want Ari-chan to die without knowing how I feel about her either. I want to be able to protect Ari-chan as much as I can. If that’s all I’m good for in here, then I’ll still be happy, you know? I’m gonna protect Ari-chan-“

“Stop saying that.” Mamoru spoke with sudden force and sudden fear, that it took Kotone back a little. “You can’t protect anyone here. Yamahata-kun thought he could protect Hayashi-kun and he ended being killed by Ichimonji-san. I bet Hutchison-san thought she could protect Ichimonji-san as well, but Ichimonji-san was executed. This place…we can’t hope to protect anyone.”

The room was silent. Fumio’s mood seemed to have quickly dropped from Mamoru’s harsh words. Mamoru was still staring, no, _glaring_ at his clenched hands that were resting on the desk, his body gently trembling.

“Even more of a reason to tell her.” Kotone eventually said. “…I mean think about it, if you couldn’t protect someone, then surely you’d want to tell them even more about how you feel because you know no matter what you do, they could be gone within the next day, or hour, or minute. I get what you’re saying, but I just view it as another reason to tell her.”

“I think that’s a very sensible mind-set to have, Okuda-san.” Fumio said.

“Eheheh…y-you think so…?” She scratched the back of her neck and smiled.

“I say you should tell her how you feel. Like…outright just tell her everything you just said to us. If she feels the same way, then that’s great. You know, if she likes you, then it’ll be down to how you are as a person. And even if you can be…over-the-top, Chieko is a pretty reserved person. Something rehearsed won’t work on her that much I can tell.” I slumped down in my seat. “What would your couple name be…? Kotone and Chieko…Chione…? Kotoko…? Or maybe Arishima and Okuda…Arishuda…? Okushima…?”

“Sora. Shut up.” Mamoru said.

“Though he brings up a good point. As long as you’re sincere in your words, and they come from the heart, I’m sure Arishima-san will appreciate them.” Fumio said. “That said, make sure you know the basic points you want to make. Stuttering through it probably isn’t the best idea, you know…?”

“You got a point.” Kotone nodded. “But, man, this is so freakin’ complicated! Why can’t telling someone you like them be easy?! Hell, it would be even easier if she would say she liked me first! This sucks!”

“Love isn’t supposed to be easy, if you can’t understand that, then don’t bother telling her that.” Mamoru folded his arms. “In any case, I hope things work out well for you, Okuda-san. However, I have no interest in this sort of topic. I’ll be taking my leave.” He abruptly got up and began making his way to the door.

“You aren’t fooling anyone.” He stopped in the doorway and looked back at Kotone. “…nobody’s buyin’ it, Fukao-kun. I hope you realise that.” There was a small silence as Mamoru just stared at her, his expression completely indifferent to what she said.

“…you don’t know what you’re talking about.” Was all he said before he left.

Kotone seemed to keep her eyes on the door for a few more seconds before shifting her attention towards me. “You should probably go talk to him. You’re the only one he’d ever listen to for more than five seconds.”

“Wow, five seconds! You have a lot of faith in me.” I grinned. “…he’s always like that, you know? Never was a guy interested in romance or anything. Not as a teen, anyway. As a kid all he ever thought about was…” I found myself going silent without any real knowing for why. “…never mind.” I stood up and headed for the door. “I’ll go talk to him, sure. See you later, maybe.” I half-waved as I left the room, not completely sliding the door closed behind me.

I began heading back towards the dorm building until I saw Mamoru up ahead, standing on the other side of the fountain. He was talking to…Orochi. Orochi? That guy he didn’t trust as far as he could throw him? What’s going on here then…? I ducked behind the fountain and began listening in on their conversation. Though it wasn’t the loudest, I could at least still make out what they were saying if I focused.

“The deal is off, Kamisaka.” Mamoru said.

“What’s this…? Don’t you care about Sora? I could instantly give everyone a motive to kill him and he’d be none-the-wiser about the whole thing. Is that what you want…Moru-chan…?” Orochi said. I could picture the grin going across his face…just what where they talking about? This wasn’t like Orochi, for one thing.

“I would defend Sora with my life. I just can’t believe that it took so long for me to come to my senses…I’ve been failing him as a friend as of late. I really need to pull my weight…so, as a start, I won’t allow you to isolate him from the rest of the group. And I won’t be sticking with our deal! You want to murder someone, you can get somebody else to cover for you. I know that Sora isn’t the mastermind of this game!”

Mastermind…? Why would anyone think I’m the mastermind? “I don’t think you understand the situation, do you? If you aren’t going to help me…” There was a silence. “…then you’ll be the top of my potential victims.”

Victims? Mamoru? Why…what’s… “I would rather die than let Sora die.” Don’t say that…

“Hmm…” Orochi seemed to be thinking. “…fine. Deal’s off…although, it’ll be too late for you to come crying about it later. I hope you realise who you’re dealing with.” I could hear the sound of Orochi’s footsteps fading away. Mamoru let out a sigh and I heard the sound of him sitting down on the stone of the fountain.

Great…now I just gotta act like I never heard anything that was just said between those two. Good luck with this one Sora. I backed up from the fountain a little before standing up and beginning to walk around. “Mamoru…” His head whipped around to look up at me for a few moments before staring back out towards the rest of the courtyard in front of him. I stood there for a moment before sitting on the stone next to him. “…you alright? You seem a little out of it.”

“Ah…I’m fine now, don’t worry.” He looked up at the sky. “…it’s peaceful here, don’t you think? In this spot. If I could just sit here and forget about the killing game, I definitely would…the sky is pretty today so I just want to look at it with…” He stopped himself.

“Yeah, I get what you’re saying.” He looked over at me. “I’m not good in stressful situations. Though…yeah, the sky is really nice. The wind feels nice as well…” I looked at the wall that squared off the area and then side-glanced to Mamoru who was keeping his gaze to the sky. He’s obviously worried about what just happened, but he doesn’t want to alert me. Idiot…

“So, how did the thing with Okuda-san go? Did you three manage to figure everything out for how she’s gonna confess to Arishima-san?” He asked not moving his gaze. “How she’s…gonna tell someone she’s in love with them…?”

“…I think so. I left early. Fumio and Kotone are probably still working on it right now. I was worried about you…you didn’t seem too happy when you left.” I wasn’t technically lying. I _was_ worried about him when he left so abruptly. “…you feeling alright?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I am.” He said. “…Sora…this is going to sound strange,” He paused, “can I hold your hand for a few seconds?” Huh…? I wasn’t sure how to respond to something like that. He’d never really acted kind to me before…in this way, anyways. I nodded without saying anything and his hand slipped into mine.

It felt…nice…

“Your hand is fucking freezing.” Mamoru grunted. Wow, mood killer much? “Honestly, what is with you?”

“Well your hand is nice and warm. I was gonna be nice about it, but you have to go and ruin the moment.” I turned away. “Besides, look at us.” I held out hands up, “We have achieved thermodynamic equilibrium.”

Mamoru laughed a little. It was the first time I heard him really laugh in a long time. “You’re such a nerd.” He smiled at me. Like…a genuine smile. When does that ever happen? “…this is nice though, don’t you think?”

I grinned, leaning in a little. “What? You’re enjoying getting to hold my hand? How adorable~” I moved my arm across his lap and grabbed his other hand. “Is this any better…?”

Mamoru’s cheeks reddened slightly and he looked away. “You’re so stupid…” He half-mumbled. I wonder…how close can I get before he flips…? I slid a little closer to him, moving our arms so they weren’t in the way. “S-Sora, seriously…?”

“But you aren’t complaining, are you…?” I chuckled resting my forehead against his. “…well…? You gonna push me away…?” There was a small stutter from Mamoru as he tried desperately avoid eye-contact. “Hmm…?” I grinned.

“ **Holy shit! It’s finally happened!** ” Mamoru quickly jumped away from me when we heard Robyn’s bellowing voice. “About freakin’ time, you guys! We’ve all been pretty much waiting for you two to get together!” She rushed over to us. “Who confessed first?! I bet it was Fukao-kun! Was it Fukao-kun?!”

“H-H-Hutchison-san, we’re not…d-dating!” Mamoru spluttered out, his face flushing fully. “He was just being an idiot, as usual!”

“Then why didn’t you move away when I got that close…?” I smirked.

“Tch! Because I wasn’t going to back down when I know you were just trying to annoy me.” He glared at me. Oh, you aren’t fooling anyone and you know it. “Maybe it’s a way of establishing dominance.” He grinned.

“You’re a lot of things, but dominant isn’t one of them.” I deadpanned.

“Because you’re so much better, aren’t you?” Mamoru’s eyes rolled. “I wouldn’t submit to anyone, especially not you.” He looked at me. I had an idea for a split second…he’d probably kill me. It would totally be worth it though.

“Then what if I did something like this?” Without warning, I pressed my lips against Mamoru’s and jumped away. “Are you still sticking by what you said earlier?” I could see Robyn’s sparkling, giddy face in the corner of my eye. Mamoru slowly stood up, a sudden malicious aura surrounding him.

“Fukao-kun…?” Robyn took a step away from him. “A-are you alright…?”

“… _Sora_ …” His voice was low. “You’d better start running, because _if_ and _**when**_ I catch you…I swear to every being on this earth,” He glared powerfully at me. “I’m gonna fucking bury you and burn all the evidence!”

“Yikes!” I grinned as I began to run off. “You heard him, Robyn! If I turn up dead, it’s all him!”

“ ** _Get back here, you bastard!!!_** ”

\--

I somehow managed to escape the demon Mamoru and slipped into my room. It was nice to see him at like that, it shows that I managed to succeed in cheering him up…kind of. Trust me, he’s in a better mood than he lets on. Was that kiss too far though…? I really feel like I might have overstepped it a little.

But…he asked to hold my hand…

Ugh. What am I thinking? Shut up and listen to your music, Sora. Mamoru’s just a weirdo that does weird things…but at the same time.

No, I should be focusing on what’s important right now. What was Mamoru talking about with Orochi? Some kind of deal? And about murder…if Orochi was to commit a murder, then Mamoru was supposed to cover for him…? Why would he do that? Why would he _agree_ to that? Orochi said something about me being the mastermind, and if there’s actually reason for someone to believe that, would that make Mamoru willing to help him?

Mamoru said he’d been failing as a friend…then he’s trying to protect me without me knowing? Is that why he asked to hold my hand? Because he’s scared something will happen to me…agh! Stop going back to him asking to hold your hand, Sora! It wasn’t that big of a deal!

And Orochi in general…he’s never acted like that before. Is that how he actually is? Ugh…if I keep this up, then I’ll just give myself a headache again. That’s another shitty part about this whole thing, my headaches are becoming more and more common. I need to find a way to calm down. Maybe relax a little…

…  
..  
.  
The bathhouse. I could go to the bathhouse and try to relax there…no. That’s too much effort. The lament of a lazy person.  
I bet Mamoru’s in the bathhouse…  
…  
..  
.  
What am I thinking…?

Kotone…I wonder if she told Chieko yet. If she did, she probably would have come knocking at my door to let me know how it went. Hopefully it’ll work out for her. It would be awkward if someone got rejected in this place and they had to stay knowing that person doesn’t feel the same. Kind of like if your best friend finds out you like them, but they don’t feel the same way.

My head lifted ever so slightly when the bells chimed and the monitors flashed on. Is that the end of the day…? It felt like this day has been going on for ages… “Alright bastards, that 10pm! Night-time has officially begun! Enjoy your lovely nights and make sure you get well rested for another great day! Also, tomorrow, make your way to the gymnasium! I got a very special surprise for all of you. Skipping this event will be prohibited, so I’d better see all of you! Goodnight!”

The monitor turned off and my head flopped back down onto the bed. Another day over…how long have I been in here anyway? It must have been a week at least. Not that it matters, but really, when are we gonna get out of here…? I know Monokuma’s just gonna give us another motive tomorrow…motive…

Orochi said Mamoru would the top of his kill list…no. I can’t think about that right now. I gotta at least pretend I’m a positive person for the time being. If not for me, then for Mamoru. It kinda sucks seeing him worrying so much about me.

I slid of my shoes, socks, and jeans and wrapped myself up in my blanket, hitting the lamp’s switch and enveloping the room in darkness. Tomorrow’s just another stupid day in ‘paradise’…I should try to sleep…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I managed another chapter in a pretty quick time! I'm really proud of myself! But yes, the motive chapter will be next as unfortunate as it may sound. Just what's Monokuma gonna plan next...?
> 
> If you enjoyed the chapter leave give a comment because the motivation is very much needed in this fic.


	21. Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Motive 3 becomes known to the remaining students.

“Moru-chan! You gotta stop acting so weak all the time!” A young me frowned at a young Mamoru.

“I’m s-sorry, I’m doing what I can, Nagata-kun…” He half-sobbed out his response.

“And I keep telling you to not call me ‘Nagata-kun’! I’m calling you Moru-chan for a reason! Call me Sora, or So-chan or something!” I whined. “You know I hate the stupid formalities anyway! In fact, honorifics in general are stupid! I’m just gonna call you Mamoru!”

“M-M-Mamoru…?” His face flushed, not being used to someone his age calling by his first name. “Th-then do I need to c-c-call you Sora…?”

“That’s much better, actually.” I nodded.

“Sora! Fukao-chan!” We both turned to see the figure of the orange-haired girl known as Umeko. Umeko Nagata. “Mama’s made dinner, you’re staying over here tonight because your parents are gonna be stuck in work, Fukao-chan. Come on!”

“Two seconds, Onee-san!” I yelled back. I usually didn’t bother with honorifics, even back then, but my sister was an exception. “I’m scolding Mamoru!”

“What…? Why would you being doing that?” She walked over to us now noticing the bruises on Mamoru’s legs and arms. “Fukao-chan?! What happened to you?!” She quickly hugged Mamoru. She always babied him.

“S-some bullies from school were picking on me and Sora jumped in to help me, but…” Umeko’s eyes glided over to me, now seeing I was covered in bruises as well. She couldn’t help but sigh, pushing her glasses up.

“I wouldn’t have needed to jump in if Mamoru wasn’t so easily targeted.” I puffed my cheeks out. “Like, it’s such a pain, can’t you learn to fight back so I don’t have to?”

“Sora!” Umeko flicked my forehead causing me to yelp out. “Fukao-chan, don’t listen to him. He’s just a knucklehead tsundere. I’ve seen your skills in actions before. You’re a very smart kid, plus I’ve never seen an eight year old who’s so organised. I’m actually very impressed. I think you’ll go on to do great things.” She turned to me. “As for you-“

“Oh, here it comes…” I sighed.

“Sora! Listen to me very clearly! You shouldn’t be getting into fights like that, even if it’s to help a friend in need. Nobody wants the reputation of delinquent to follow them about into their high school years, especially not you. You have a very analytical mind, you’re extremely smart even in very confusing situations. I want you to realise that not everything needs to be resolved with your fists. Okay…?” She ruffled my hair playfully.

“Alright…I get it, I get it.” I shoved my hands in my pockets.

“U-Umeko-san, you’re really amazing. I don’t why, but whenever you talk like that, I just feel really motivated to try my best!” Mamoru’s eyes sparkled as he looked up at Umeko. She giggled a little and smiled down to Mamoru.

“That’s very sweet of you to say, Fukao-chan. Just make sure you both do your best in life, and I’ll be happy with wherever you end up.” This time he ruffled Mamoru’s hair as well as mine.

“Heh! Onee-san’s got a way with words that just makes you wanna work. She’s probably gonna be an Ultimate soon enough!” I grinned. “Ultimate…Motivational Speaker, Umeko Nagata!”

“Does that even count as a talent…?” Umeko laughed. “…well, either way, we should get inside. Mama, papa, and Ryuu have all been waiting long enough.” She took my hand and Mamoru’s hand and led us inside…

…Umeko…Onee-san…

\--

“Onee-san…!” I sat up as I yelled out. It took me a few moments to realise that my brain was just replaying an old memory. My arm lowered and I brought my hand up to rub the sleep out of my eyes. I wasn’t woken up by the Monokuma morning announcement, which means I’m awake earlier than I should be. Though after that…I don’t think I’m gonna be getting back to sleep anytime soon.

I grabbed my ElectroID and checked what time it was currently. 6:12 am. So I had a while before the announcement was played. What am I supposed to do until then…? I can’t shower. The water is turned off…

Fuck…

My head fell back and hit the pillow again, laying my arm across my forehead. Headaches again…maybe there are some painkillers in the storage room. I should really check that out soon. There was the nurse’s office that was in the connecting building, but that’s blocked off, right…? Maybe that’s changed by now…it couldn’t hurt to check…

…  
But I don’t know if I can be bothered getting dressed for that. Plus I’m going to be passing it when it comes to motive time. Maybe I’m better off just trying to wait it out. Yeah…I’ll just…wait it out.

\--

“Nagata-kun?” Akiko’s eyes widened as she bumped into me on the way to the gym after the morning announcement. Her hair looked a little messed up, did she forget to brush it or something? Did she just come straight here after getting ready? “Wow…you look exhausted. More than usual, anyways. Did you sleep last night?”

“Oh, don’t worry about anything.”- I glanced away. The bags under my eyes were admittedly pretty heavy,- “I slept, just woke up a little early, is all.” I wasn’t lying, to be fair on myself. I’m not about to admit that I woke up because a bad memory was replayed to me in my dreams. Akiko’s the type to get concerned over stuff like that. Not worth the hassle it would end up causing.

“Hmm…you didn’t have a bad dream or anything? You must have woken up earlier for a reason.” Akiko leaned towards me.

“Like I said. I’m fine.” I turned away. “Shouldn’t we be going to the gym…? No point in hanging around here…ah, I almost forgot. I was gonna check out the nurse’s office. I wanted to see if it was finally available to use.”

“Oh, it is!” She smiled, quickly latching onto my arm and dragging me over to where the nurse’s office was. The wooden boards that were once being used to stop u from getting in were now nowhere to be seen. Akiko pushed the doors to the infirmary and dragged me in with her. “I came here last night since I wasn’t feeling too great. So, I kind of have an idea on where most of the stuff in here is. What do you need?”

“Painkillers…for a headache.” I said. Akiko turned to an array of cupboards and began looking through a large assortment of pill bottles and medicine bottles, quietly saying the words on the labels to herself.

“Cough medicine, hay fever tablets, indigestion, heartburn…ah! Here we go.” She pulled out an orange bottle with little white pills inside them. The label clearly said ‘Ibuprofen’. “That should help with the headache, no problem!”

“Thanks Akiko…” I nodded a little. “You seem like you’ve done stuff like this before…were you in the health committee in middle school or something?”

“That obvious, huh? Yeah. Myself and two others would help out the nurse every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. I had to help quite a lot of students, it was a pretty accident-prone place. Not for any real reason, it just seemed like the entirety of the school had horrible luck.” She let out a small giggle.

“What’s so funny…?”

“I just thought about how there are middle schools that have it as a rule for every student to be part of a club…but I can’t really imagine you in any club, if I’m honest.” Wow. Thanks for that one. “…well, were you in a club…?”

“I was in the school’s disciplinary committee…Mamoru was the vice president of the student council…”

“Disciplinary committee, huh? Yeah, I can actually picture that being true.” Akiko admitted. “You do act with a good sense of justice, so I can bet you were pretty good at your job.” The songwriter began walking over to the door. “I feel like we’ve hung around for too long, don’t you agree…? We need to get going or Monokuma might get angry at us both.”

“Yeah…good call.” I nodded.

\--

“There you two idiots are!” The screech of Monokuma’s voice came from the other side of the room when Akiko and I walked in. “You kept me waiting long enough, you know that?! I was getting ready to set up my punishment because I thought you two were gonna try and skip this!”

“I had to take Nagata-kun to the infirmary, alright? You can afford to wait a few extra minutes.” Akiko replied. “Let me guess, motive time…?”

“Ugh, I’ll forgive you for getting that right!” Monokuma folded his tiny arms. “Yep, it’s everyone’s favourite time-“

“It’s nobody’s favourite time.” Yumiko cut in.

“Shut it, blondie!” Monokuma growled. “If you people keep interrupting then I swear I’m really gonna lose it. I’m five seconds away from snapping, I dare one of you to say something stupid.” There was a brief silence. “Good…now, like I was trying to say! I feel like you’ve all had enough time to recover from the last murder…so, of course I get to provide you all with your next motive!”

He didn’t move. No envelope or anything.

“Um…wh…what is the next motive…?” Chieko carefully asked.

“Oh, it’s already in place!” Monokuma laughed. “This motive…is a talent-swap!” A silence once again filled the room. “…what? Aren’t you all going to react…?”

“Are we supposed to actually believe you swapped our talents? How would we even believe you in the first place?” Etsuko questioned doubtfully. “And even if it were true, why would that get us to kill each other? Is somebody so desperate to hold onto their talent that they would kill for it? Get bent, Monokuma.”

“Ahh~ I forgot, I forgot! Now…how about we ask Fumio Numajiri, the ‘Super High School Level Judge’…am I lying or telling the truth…?” We all turned to Fumio, who we only now had noticed had went pale. There’s no way, right…?

“I…I d-don’t know…” Fumio admitted. “I c...can’t tell anything. Not even a gut instinct…” Don’t tell me he- “What the hell did you do to me?!” Fumio suddenly snapped at Monokuma, a prominent look of fear coming through in his eyes.

“You wanna see?” Monokuma pulled out a small remote and pressed the single red button in the middle of it. A podium rose from the area of the stage to Monokuma’s left. A large machine with everyone’s faces stickered onto it and an array of buttons were arranged around the machine. “Say hello to my ‘Super High School Talent Shuffler Machine’!” Monokuma gestured to the machine. “This thing controls a hidden machine in your rooms that allow me to shuffle around your talents however I want!”

“Y…you gotta be kiddin’ me…” Hiroaki stepped back. “G…give me back my talent, dammit! I worked hard for that fuckin’ title!”

“If you want your talent back that badly…then you know what you have to do…” Monokuma chortled before continuing on. “And one more thing…for those that think this motive is ‘lame’, then I’ll make it even more extreme…if a body doesn’t turn up in 24 hours, I’ll reveal how people got their talents, including what made them start on the path to be what they are! Such as why Kotone Okuda became a bounty hunter! Or why Shin Tamuro became a spy! Or why Mamoru Fukao became an Assistant! Or why Orochi Kamisaka became a-“ He cut himself off. “…well you get the idea.” He looked like he had something else to say to us.

“Even so…what a weak motive…” Yumiko sighed. “That’s right, right everyone…huh…?” Yumiko looked around to find a few of the group with their heads hanging low, or fear-stricken expressions and paled skin. Did people really have things to hide relating to their talents…?

“I…I g-gotta go…” Kotone looked ready to throw up, wobbling out of the room. “I c-can’t…do this…”

“Okuda-chan…?” Chieko’s concern grew as Kotone left the gymnasium. Monokuma let out a low chuckle, everyone’s attention was drawn back to the bear. “You did something bad to her, didn’t you?” Chieko murmured, her eyes now on the floor. “Why…? Why her? Okuda-chan never did anything wrong…so why are you targeting her like this?!”

“Hey, watch it with those accusations, girlie! I won’t tolerate you soiling my good name!” Monokuma said. What good name? You’re a bear that forces people to kill each other.

“They’re justified…you…you…big stupid, mean, bear!” Chieko squeaked out what could barely be called an insult. “Okuda-chan is one of the strongest, and best people I’ve ever met…I…I w-won’t let you force her into killing anyone!” Before anyone knew what was going on, Chieko bolted out the gymnasium, clearly goin after Kotone.

==

“Okuda-chan! Okuda-chan!” Chieko grabbed onto the arm of Kotone once she finally managed to catch up with her in the main building, just outside the cafeteria. Chieko panted, exhausted from running. “Wh…why did you run away…?”

“S…sorry if I made you worry.” Kotone flashed a forced smile. “Just…got reminded of some bad stuff, you know? Wasn’t nice…didn’t wanna be around the others then and there.” She look away for a few moments. “It kinda sucks, you know…? How everyone keeps feeling forced to kill each other…hell, if this keeps up, even I might-“

“Don’t say something like that!” Chieko yelped. “D-don’t! I don’t want to think about something so horrible…w…we’ve already lost four people. Matsushina-san, Araki-san, Hayashi-san…and Ichimonji-san…th-the idea that anyone else could die makes me sad. Th-thinking I might have to see you get executed or investigate your body…h-hurts even more…”

Kotone stared down at Chieko stoically. “…I’m already surrounded my death, in case you forgot. I’m already a killer…the only reason I haven’t killed someone is because I care about the people in this game. They’re good people, and bounty hunters would never intentionally hurt or kill innocent people…” There was a momentary silence. “…but being reminded of stuff I need to do…it makes it hard.”

“Stuff you need to do…?”

“Yeah…Monokuma’s definitely targeted me with this motive. He knows how much I want to be able to move on and get started on my normal life…I had it before, but…” Kotone folded her arms and began mumbling to herself over some personal thoughts.

“I…I want you to have a normal life as well, Okuda-chan…” Chieko twiddled with her thumbs, her voice snapping Kotone back to the conversation. “…b-but I want you to be able to leave here with everyone else…I want everyone to leave together. Death is horrible. I don’t want to have to hear or see death again…I just want to go back to my shrine…and go back to my duties and drink my mother’s tea in the evenings with someone special.”

“Someone special?”

Chieko let out a squeak, her face going red. “U-um…y-yes…I promised my mother I would bring someone important to me over to the village before the end of my first year…” A pause. “Okuda-chan…I w-want you to come to my shrine when we leave…”

“Eh?!” Kotone stepped back. “S-saying it like that, y-you’re gonna end up giving me the wrong idea, Ari-chan! I mean, you want to bring back someone important to you, right?”

“You are important to me! You are!” Chieko screwed her eyes shut. “I’ve never had someone my age to call a friend, and I’ve never had someone who was willing to say they’d protect me, or forgive me when I couldn’t be a friend to them when we should have all stuck together! I…I haven’t met someone as strong as you…”

“Ari-chan…” Kotone looked down.

“So please…don’t die…not when we still have a chance to get out of here together…promise me that!”

“…yeah.” Chieko’s head whipped up to look at Kotone’s smiling expression. “…I’ll get us out of here alive with the others. For that though…we’ll need to find the bastard that put us in here in the first place. Let’s work together and find the truth, yeah?”

“Yeah!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GAH!!! EXAM SEASON REALLY THREW OFF MY MOMENTUM!
> 
> Sorry about the wait, I'm really gonna push myself over the summer to write more, promise!

**Author's Note:**

> And now for the start of my newest series, which I'm very excited. Let's hope I can follow through with it this time. If you have any criticisms or anything you like, please let me know because it's what keeps me motivated to write, and I really appreciate it.


End file.
